Nitridated fibrous silica (KCC-1) as a sustainable solid base nanocatalyst

Bouhrara, Mohamed; Ranga, Chanakya; Fihri, Aziz; Shaikh, Rafik; Sarawade, Pradip; Emwas, Abdul-Hamid M.; Hedhili, Mohamed N.; Polshettiwar, Vivek

Nitridated fibrous silica (KCC-1) as a sustainable solid base nanocatalyst

Type

Article

Authors

Bouhrara, Mohamed
Ranga, Chanakya
Fihri, Aziz
Shaikh, Rafik
Sarawade, Pradip
Emwas, Abdul-Hamid M.
Hedhili, Mohamed N.

Polshettiwar, Vivek

KAUST Department

Advanced Nanofabrication, Imaging and Characterization Core Lab
Core Labs
Imaging and Characterization Core Lab
KAUST Catalysis Center (KCC)
Physical Science and Engineering (PSE) Division

Online Publication Date

2013-07-03

Print Publication Date

2013-09-03

Date

2013-07-03

Abstract

We observed that support morphology has dramatic effects on the performance of nitridated silica as a base. By simply replacing conventional silica supports (such as SBA-15 and MCM-41) with fibrous nanosilica (KCC-1), we observed multifold enhancement in the catalytic activity of the nitridated solid base for Knoevenagel condensations and transesterification reactions. This enhancement of the activity can be explained by amine accessibility, which is excellent in KCC-1 due to its open and flexible fibrous structure, that facilitates penetration and interaction with basic amine sites. © 2013 American Chemical Society.

Citation

Bouhrara, M., Ranga, C., Fihri, A., Shaikh, R. R., Sarawade, P., Emwas, A.-H., … Polshettiwar, V. (2013). Nitridated Fibrous Silica (KCC-1) as a Sustainable Solid Base Nanocatalyst. ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, 1(9), 1192–1199. doi:10.1021/sc400126h