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Porous Boron Nitride as a Weak Solid Base Catalyst
Author(s) -
Nakamura Shohei,
Takagaki Atsushi,
Watanabe Motonori,
Yamada Kanta,
Yoshida Masaaki,
Ishihara Tatsumi
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
chemcatchem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.497
H-Index - 106
eISSN - 1867-3899
pISSN - 1867-3880
DOI - 10.1002/cctc.202001435
Subject(s) - boric acid , boron nitride , catalysis , fourier transform infrared spectroscopy , inorganic chemistry , boron , materials science , mesoporous material , infrared spectroscopy , nitride , chemistry , chemical engineering , nuclear chemistry , organic chemistry , nanotechnology , engineering , layer (electronics)
Porous boron nitride was synthesized by pyrolysis from boric acid and urea mixed in varying molar ratios. The boron nitride prepared had high surface areas ranging from 376 to 647 m 2 g −1 with both microporous and mesoporous structures. The sample prepared with a urea‐to‐boric acid molar ratio of 5 exhibited the highest pore volume with the highest surface area of mesopores. Boron‐K edge X‐ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy revealed that the surface structure consisted of BN 3 sites along with BN 2 O, BNO 2 , and BO 3 sites. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy indicated the formation of amino and hydroxyl groups on the surface. Analysis using color indicator reagents and deuterated chloroform‐adsorbed FTIR results indicated that the porous boron nitride had very weak base sites of strength +7.2> H −≥+6.3. Porous boron nitride exhibited a high activity for the nitroaldol reaction with a high selectivity for nitroalkene (>97 %). A good correlation was observed between the catalytic activity of the boron nitride catalysts and their porous structures.