One-Pot Synthesis of Aldol Adduct Catalyzed by Immobilized Picolylamine on Zirconia

Abstract

Direct aldol reactions have been successfully performed using aromatic aldehyde and cyclic ketone in nonpolar solvent by using immobilized picolylamine on zirconia as a catalyst, in a double walled batch reactor. The prepared catalyst was characterized by SEM, XRD and FT-IR. FT-IR peaks reveal the presence of picolylamine on the surface of zirconia. The catalyst shows excellent catalytic activity in aldol reaction of cyclohexanone with benzaldehyde in cyclohexane giving 2-hydroxyphenylmethylcyclohexanone (55.7% yield) in 4 hr at 80˚C. Furthermore, the catalyst is recoverable by simple filtration and could be used several times without significant loss in activity.