7
0
P.K. Batista et al. / Journal of Molecular Catalysis A: Chemical 379 (2013) 68–71
Table 1
Conversions of PhCHO to 2 catalyzed by [Eu2(MELL)(H2O)6].
Table 2
Addition of TMSCN to benzaldehyde catalyzed by activated (1) in various solvents.
Mass (mg)
Time (min)#
Conversion to 2 (%)#
Entry
Solvent
Time (min)
Conversion to 2 (%)#
*
5
180
180
600*
180
180
44
72
1
2
3
4
5
6
Hexane
180
90
100
60
180
180
34
98
95
*
*
5
–
0
0
Methylene chloride
Tetrahydrofuran
Acetonitrile
Ethyl alcohol
Water
**
8***
90
*
*
*
*
100 (45*)
1
3
100
14
0
#
Conditions: PhCHO: TMSCN (1:2) in toluene (5.0 mL at room temperature). The
conversion of PhCHO to 2 was determined by GC analysis relative to dodecane as an
#
The conversion of PhCHO to 2 was determined by GC analysis relative to dode-
internal standard.
cane as an internal standard.
*
*
As-prepared (1).
Using Eu(NO3)3·6H2O as the catalyst.
*
*
(
1) thermally activated.
*
**
Reaction performed without catalyst.
In acetonitrile, an increase in the reaction rate was observed with
complete substrate conversion in 60 min at room temperature. The
yield and reaction time were higher than those obtained using
The Rietveld refinement for [Eu (MELL)(H O) ] after the first
2
2
6
[
Nd(btc)(H O)] [29] as the catalyst and Eu(NO ) ·6H O. Polar pro-
2
3 3
2
thermal treatment (Fig. 2(a)) does not show noticeable modifica-
tions in the powder pattern, which indicated that the prepared
compound retained its structural integrity under this condition.
The TGA/DTG results are in good agreement with the X-ray diffrac-
tion data, because a weight loss event (0.12%) was observed up to
tic solvents, such as water and ethyl alcohol, interfere with the
reaction, because they inhibit the catalyst action by formation of
hydrogen bonds with the substrate [30]. The results showed that
the optimal condition for the cyanation reaction includes 10 mg
of [Eu (MELL)(H O) ] in acetonitrile. Therefore, this condition was
◦
2
2
6
ca. 80 C corresponding to the complete release of uncoordinated
extended to reactions of other aldehydes. The results are summa-
rized in Table 3.
water molecules present on the crystal surface. Unlike the previ-
ously reported LnMOFs, the [Eu (MELL)(H O) ] material exhibits
2
2
6
As observed in Table 3, a wide variety of aldehydes can be
converted to the corresponding O-trimethylsilyl cyanohydrin with
good yields at room temperature. The LnMOF catalyst has exhib-
ited a similar efficiency for the conversion of aldehydes containing
activating and deactivating groups (Table 3, compounds 4–7). For
compound 4, the yield and reaction time were higher than those
obtained using [Tb(TCA) 4 h and 47% conversion] [31]. Similar
behavior was observed for the conversion of aliphatic aldehydes
the presence of another crystalline phase and a phase transition
collapse when maintained at 120 and 150 C for 1 h (Fig. 2(b)
and (c), respectively). However, the TGA curve does not indicate
the degradation of organic residues at these temperatures. This
phase transition may be attributed to the release of coordinated
water molecules, because the supramolecular structure of the
◦
[
Eu (MELL)(H O) ] is stabilized by hydrogen bonding interactions
2 2 6
among the aqua ligands and the oxygen atoms from neighboring
carboxylate groups. It is important to note that these results are
supported by TGA/DTG. One of our main goals is to tailor the cat-
(Table 3, compounds 12–14). In addition, no polymerization or
decomposition reactions of furfuraldehyde were detected (com-
pound 10). In similar compounds, the yield of ortho-substituted
compounds is lower than the para-substituted compounds. 4-
Hydroxy benzaldehyde is converted to the corresponding product
in just 3 h (compound 7) while 2-hydroxy benzaldehyde is con-
verted to the corresponding product in only 6 h with 83% yield.
We investigated the potential for recycling and reuse of
alytic activity of [Eu (MELL)(H O) ] via surface activation, because
2
2
6
the superficial water removal allows for the interaction between
the aldehydes and the Lewis acids sites [28]. Therefore, the mate-
◦
rial was submitted to milder thermal treatment (100 C for 1 h) to
avoid the structural phase transition while exposing the Lewis acid
sites.
[
Eu (MELL)(H O) ] in the addition reaction of TMSCN to 2-
2 2 6
The catalytic activities were assessed by optimized reactions
between benzaldehyde and TMSCN in toluene (5.0 mL) at room
temperature. The reaction times were monitored by TLC, and the
conversions of benzaldehyde to O-TMS-phenylcyanohydrin-2 were
determined by gas chromatography (GC). Table 1 shows the exper-
imental parameters, such as catalyst masses, reaction time and
substrate conversions (%), for the catalytic assays.
furfuraldehyde. The catalyst was used without pretreatment
(
[
only filtration was performed), and we found that the activated
Eu (MELL)(H O) ] could be recycled and reused at least five con-
2
2
6
secutive times without loss of activity, reaction yields or product
purity. 98%, 89%, 88%, 86% and 85% of the O-trimethylsilyl cyanohy-
drin was isolated after the first, second, third, fourth and fifth cycles,
respectively.
As observed in Table 1, the reaction without the catalyst pro-
ceeded for a longer time period (10 h) and yielded only 8% of the
product. However, the reactions performed in the presence of the
MOF materials exhibited rapid conversion (3 h) accompanied by
good product yields. Based on the same catalyst mass and reaction
time, the thermally activated [Eu (MELL)(H O) ] exhibited supe-
Table 3
Addition of TMSCN to several aldehydes catalyzed by activated (1).
Compound
R
Time (h)
Substrate
conversion (%)#
2
2
6
rior catalytic activity compared to [Eu (MELL)(H O) ] (72 and 44%
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
2-Naphthyl
4-NO2-C6H4
4-Br-C6H4
5
3
3
6
3
6
3
1
3
3
3
3
83
93
92
75
95
83
62
100
85
65
99
69
2
2
6
of substrate conversion, respectively). The effect of the amount
of catalyst was investigated, and the results demonstrate that an
increase in the mass of the catalyst results in an increase in the
reaction yields. To investigate the effects of different solvents, sub-
stituent groups and steric hindrances of several aldehydes, we have
chosen to use 10.00 mg of catalyst. In order to investigate the role
of different solvents in the reaction, we have applied on the addi-
tion of TMSCN to benzaldehyde different solvents and the results
are summarized in Table 2.
4-CH3-C6H4
4-OH-C6H4
2-OH-C H
6
4
2-Pyridyl
2-Furfuryl
5-NO2-2-furfuryl
Penthyl
Ethyl
10
11
12
13
14
Piperonyl
It is important to note that the catalyzed reactions performed
in polar aprotic solvents exhibit high O-TMS-phenylcyanohydrin
#
Conditions: Aldehyde: TMSCN (1:2), 10 mg of activated (1) in acetonitrile at
room temperature. The conversions of aldehydes to OTMS-cyanohydrins were
determined by GC analysis relative to dodecane as an internal standard.
(
2, R = H) yields in less than 180 min of those realized in toluene.