A new 2D coordination polymer as bifunctional heterogeneous catalyst for tandem deacetalization‐Knoevenagel reaction

Abstract

Designing multifunctional catalysts for one‐pot organic transformations is highly important due to economic and environmental point of views. Synthesis of bifunctional acid–base tandem catalysts has drawn attention owing to the incorporation of antagonistic active sites in a single catalyst. In the current work, a novel coordination polymer, [NaZn(btc)(H2O)3].1.5H2O (1) (1,3,5‐benzenetricarboxylic acid [H3btc]), was prepared by solvothermal method. Single crystal analysis of 1 revealed that the structure is two dimensional and contains the coexisted Lewis acid–base sites. The material was further characterized by powder X‐ray diffraction, FT‐IR, thermogravimetric analysis, and temperature programed desorption of NH3 (NH3‐TPD) and CO2 (CO2‐TPD). Compound 1 was utilized as a heterogeneous catalyst for tandem deacetalization‐Knoevenagel reaction of benzaldehyde dimethyl acetal and malononitrile. It exhibited good activity and structural stability during the reaction.