A Cu-BTC MOF catalyst has been identified as an efficient and reusable heterogeneous catalyst for imine formation under neat conditions.
A Cu-BTC (MOF-199) [copper( ii)-benzene-1,3,5-tricarboxylate] catalyst has been synthesized and evaluated for imine synthesis from amine compounds under neat conditions. The performance of the Cu-BTC MOF was significantly higher than that of the CuO supported on Al 2O 3, TiO 2 and SiO 2 catalysts. The role of surface Lewis acid sites on the catalyst in the formation of imine products was illustrated by the pyridine-IR studies. The recovered Cu-BTC catalyst demonstrated consistent activity for five cycles under similar experimental conditions. The physicochemical properties of the catalysts were analyzed by XRD, BET-SA, FT-IR, UV-DRS, SEM, TEM, XPS and pyridine adsorbed DRIFT spectroscopy.