ZrO2/g-C3N4 Hybrid Nanocomposite: An Efficient and Eco-Friendly Recyclable Catalyst for the Trimethylsilyl Protection of Hydroxyl Groups and Synthesis of α-Aminophosphonates

Abstract

Recently, considerable attention has been devoted to heterogeneous catalysts. Generally, heterogeneous catalysts offer several advantages, such as mild reaction conditions, high throughput, and ease of work-up procedures. Among the heterogeneous catalysts investigated, polymeric mesoporous graphitic carbon nitrides (g-C3N4) have attracted much attention recently due to strong van der Waals interactions between the layers. g-C3N4 is chemically stable against acidic, basic, and organic solvents, and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) also reveals that g-C3N4 is thermally stable even in air up to 600 °C, which can be attributed to its aromatic C-N heterocycles. More importantly, g-C3N4 is only composed of two earth-abundant elements: carbon and nitrogen. This not only suggests that it can be easily prepared at low cost, but also that its properties can be tuned by simple strategies without significant alteration of the overall composition. The last approach is considered to be the most efficient way to design high-performance heterogeneous catalysts utilizing g-C3N4 as a catalyst support. An interesting phenomenon is that the modification is mainly focused on metal oxides. Zirconia (ZrO2) is a physically rigid material with chemical inertness. It has high resistance against attacks by acids, alkalis, oxidants, and reductants. In this study, a ZrO2/g-C3N4 hybrid nanocomposite was shown to be an excellent catalyst for the conversion of alcohols and phenols into their corresponding trimethylsilyl ethers with hexamethyldisilazane (HMDS) under solvent-free conditions and for the synthesis of α-aminophosphonates. In addition, ZrO2/g-C3N4 could easily be recycled after separation from the reaction mixture without considerable loss in catalytic activity.