New bi-functionalized ordered mesoporous material as heterogeneous catalyst for production of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural

Abstract Newly designed ordered two dimensional hexagonal bi-functionalized mesoporous organosilica material (b-MPOS) has been synthesized through the step-by-step post-grafting synthetic pathway. The pure calcined SBA-15 was subjected for functionalization using chloro-substituted organo-silica ligand to get MPCFOS, denoted by mesoporous chloro-functionalized organosilica material. This material undergoes through the substitution reaction (SN2) between the pore wall attached chloro-functional group and the organic bi-functionalized ligand i.e. 3-Amino-1,2,4-triazole-5-carboxylic acid containing amine group in the presence of potassium carbonate which was used as a mild base under the refluxing conditions. The as-synthesized bi-functionalized material displays the high specific surface area as well as pore diameter of 537 m2 g−1 and 9.4 nm, respectively. Since, as-synthesized material contains both acid and basic functional groups, temperature programmed desorption (TPD) of NH3 and CO2 analysis, have been performed to determine the total amount of surface acidic and basic sites of this material which are estimated to be 1.87 and 2.07 mmol g−1, respectively. Due to the presence of Bronsted acid and base groups together with the bi-functionalized material, it has been investigated as a heterogeneous catalyst for carbohydrates transformation to synthesize the valuable chemical like 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) from fructose with the high product yield of 86 mol% by using microwave irradiated heating conditions.