Hierarchical Porous Carbon-Supported Copper Nanoparticles as an Efficient Catalyst for the Dimethyl Carbonate Synthesis

Facile Hydrothermal Synthesis of Ag/Fe3O4/Cellulose Nanocomposite as Highly Active Catalyst for 4-Nitrophenol and Organic Dye Reduction

Novel effluent treatment solutions for dangerous organic pollutants are crucial worldwide. In recent years, chemical reduction using noble metal-based nanocatalysts and NaBH4, a reducing agent, has become common practice for eliminating organic contaminants from aquatic environments. We suggest a straightforward approach to synthesizing magnetic cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) modified with magnetite (Fe3O4) and silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) as a catalyst for organic contamination removal. Significantly, the CNC surface was decorated with Ag NPs without using any reducing agents or stabilizers. PXRD, FE-SEM, TEM, EDX, VSM, BET, and zeta potential tests characterized the Ag/Fe3O4/CNC nanocomposite. The nanocomposite's catalytic activity was tested by eliminating 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) and the organic dyes methylene blue (MB) and methyl orange (MO) in an aqueous solution at 25 °C. The Ag/Fe3O4/CNC nanocomposite reduced 4-NP and decolored these hazardous organic dyes in a short time (2 to 5 min) using a tiny amount of catalyst (2.5 mg for 4-NP and 15 mg for MO and MB). The magnetic catalyst was removed and reused three times without losing catalytic activity. This work shows that the Ag/Fe3O4/CNC nanocomposite can chemically reduce harmful pollutants in effluent for environmental applications.

One-Pot Synthesis of Dimethyl Carbonate over a Binary Catalyst of an Ionic Liquid and an Alkali Carbonate under Low Pressure

A mild and highly efficient approach has been developed for the one-pot synthesis of dimethyl carbonate (DMC) from epoxide, carbon dioxide, and methanol under low initial pressure. The key to the successful transformation is the use of a bicomponent catalytic system composed of a hydroxyl-functionalized ionic liquid and an alkali carbonate. This bicomponent catalytic system demonstrated excellent reusability in four runs. Under the optimal reaction conditions, a 64% yield of DMC from propylene oxide and an 81% yield of DMC from ethylene oxide were obtained.

Synthesis of dimethyl carbonate from methanol and CO2 under low pressure

A mild and highly efficient approach has been developed for the direct synthesis of dimethyl carbonate (DMC) from methanol and CO₂ under low initial pressure. The key to a successful transformation is the use of 1,8-diazabicyclo[5.4.0]undec-7-ene (DBU), CH₂Br₂ and ionic liquid. Under the optimized reaction conditions, the yield of DMC was obtained up to 81% under 0.25 MPa. The direct synthesis of DMC can be carried out at balloon pressure using CH₂Br₂ and DBU. In this case, after the reaction, DBU was proved to be recyclable after having been treated with KOH in ethanol. In addition, a plausible mechanism for this synthetic reaction was proposed according to the experimental results.

A mild and efficient approach for the synthesis of dimethyl carbonate from methanol and CO₂ under low initial pressure was developed.

Synthesis and crystal structure of a new heteronuclear complex of Fe(iii)-K designed to produce effective catalysts for CO hydrogenation

A new paramagnetic heteronuclear complex formulated as [K₃Fe(μ-ox)₃(H₂O)₃]_n (1), where ox^2- is oxalate, has been synthesized under hydrothermal condition. The molecular structure of complex 1 was characterized by elemental analysis, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and single-crystal X-ray diffraction (SCXRD). The results of SC-XRD analysis revealed that complex 1 crystallizes in the centrosymmetric space group P2₁/c of a monoclinic system with cell dimension a = 7.7175 (4) Å, b = 19.8009 (7) Å, c = 10.2623 (5) Å, and β = 107.634 (5)° at 100 K. The thermal behavior of complex 1 was studied by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential thermal analysis (DTA). The magnetic behavior of complex 1 was studied at room temperature by a vibration sample magnetometer (VSM). Thermal decomposition of the silica and alumina supports of complex 1 at 650 °C resulted in the main catalysts, Fe₂O₃-K₂O/SiO₂ and Fe₂O₃-K₂O/Al₂O₃. The catalytic activity of the main catalysts was evaluated for CO hydrogenation. For comparative purposes, the reference catalysts of Fe₂O₃-K₂O/SiO₂ and Fe₂O₃-K₂O/Al₂O₃ were prepared by the impregnation method. The structure and composition of the catalysts were investigated by FT-IR spectroscopy, powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), N₂ adsorption-desorption analysis, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES) and energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX). We tested all catalysts for hydrogenation of CO at 5 bar of pressure in the temperature range of 593-673 K. It was found that the main catalysts have better CO conversion and selectivity to desired products, such as light olefins, than the reference catalysts.

In Situ Synthesis of Ag-Fe3O4 Nanoparticles Immobilized on Pure Cellulose Microspheres as Recyclable and Biodegradable Catalysts

The preparation of reusable and eco-friendly materials from renewable biomass resources such as cellulose is an inevitable choice for sustainable development. In this work, cellulose was dissolved in 7 wt % NaOH/12 wt % urea aqueous solution at -12 °C with rapid stirring. Cellulose microspheres (Cels) were fabricated by a sol-gel transition method. Subsequently, novel magnetic Ag-Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles (NPs) supported on cellulose microspheres were successfully constructed by an in situ one-pot synthesis. The magnetic cellulose microspheres (MCels) displayed a spherical shape with mesoporous structure and had a narrow particle size distribution (10-20 μm). Many nanopores with a pore diameter of 5-40 nm were observed in MCels. The Ag-Fe₃O₄ NPs were immobilized by anchoring with the hydroxyl groups on the surface of Cels. MCels were applied as a microreactor to evaluate their catalytic activities. 4-Nitrophenol (4-NP) could be reduced to 4-aminophenol (4-AP) in 5 min, catalyzed by MCels. Moreover, the magnetic microspheres exhibited a small hysteresis loop and low coercivity. Thus, MCels could be quickly gathered in water under a magnetic field in 10 s, as well as almost 9 cycle times, maintaining relatively high catalytic activity. In this work, cellulose matrix as the catalyst support could be biodegraded completely in the environment. It provided a green process for the utilization of biomass in nanocatalytic applications.