One-pot synthesis of nitrogen-doped highly ordered mesoporous polymer nanospheres as a highly efficient catalyst for the water-medium Knoevenagel reactions

摘要

Nitrogen-doped mesoporous polymer nanospheres (3HP-MPS) with short channel structures were prepared by a template strategy using 3-hydroxypyridine as a nitrogen source. The nitrogen basic active sites are incorporated into the framework of mesoporous polymer. The nitrogen amount of 3HP-MPS sample could be adjusted up to 1.87. The as-made 3HP-MPS sample possesses the unique amphiphilic property, which enables the effective reaction in the water medium even without organic solvents. As demonstrated experimentally, the unique 3HP-MPS catalyst displays the approximate efficiencies to 3-hydroxypyridine homogenous catalyst in water-medium Knoevenagel reactions. Moreover, the robust 3HP-MPS catalyst could be easily recycled and reused for at least five times without obvious decrease of catalytic performance. The result shows the catalyst has important application in green chemistry in the future.