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35,10.2478/v10026-009-0020-3
J. Chem. Tech., Vol. 11, No. 2, 2009 31
Synthesis of acetaminophen at green condition and room temperature in the presence of the Preyssler type
heteropolyacids has been investigated in order to contribute toward clean technology, which is the most
important need of the society. All of the catalysts are recyclable and reusable.
Catalyst Preparation
Keggin type heteropolyacids were acquired from com-
mercial sources. H14[NaP5W30O110] H4[PMo11VO40] and
H 5 [PMo 10 V 2 O 40 ] , PW 11 , PW 11 NiO 40 , PW 11 ZnO 40 ,
PW11CoO40 were prepared in accordance to the litera-
ture16 – 18.
The Wells-Dawson species H6[P2W18O62] was prepared
as described elsewhere19. Potassium salt of Preyssler's
anion was prepared in accordance to the procedure devel-
oped in our laboratory1. The free acid was prepared by the
passage of a solution of the potassium salt in water through
a column of Dowex 50wx8 in the H+ form and evapora-
tion of the elute to dryness under vacuum 1. Molybdenum
substituted Preyssler heteropolyanion, H14-P5Mo, was
Figure 1. The structure of [NaP5W30O110]14- polyhedral form prepared as follows: 2.8 g (0.169 mol) Na2WO4. 2H2O
showing WO6 octahedra and the central Na (open and 2 g (0.008 mol) Na2MoO4.2H2O were dissolved in 35
circle). mL of water and mixed at 60 °C for 30 min.
Then this solution was cooled to room temperature and
25 mL of concentrated phosphoric acid was added. The
resulting yellow solution was refluxed for 18 h. The solu-
tion was brought to room temperature, diluted with water
and then during stirring, 10 g of KCl was added. The
mixture was stirred and then heated up to dryness.
The product was dissolved in warm water and upon
cooling to room temperature yellow crystals formed. The
acidic form of molybdenum substituted heteropolyacid
was obtained as described above, for the unsubstituted
analogue. Supported heteropolyacid catalysts were pre-
pared by impregnating a support in the form of powder
(SiO2) with an aqueous solution of the heteropolyacid
with different concentrations. The samples were dried at
120 – 140 oC, and the catalysts were calcined at 300 oC
Figure 2. [NaP 5W30O110] 14- viewed perpendicularly to the in the furnace prior to use.
anion's C5 axis.Tungsten and oxygen atoms are
represented by large and small circles respectively, General Procedure
phosphorus atoms are represented by shaded cir-
cles and the sodium atom is represented by a
The homogeneous process was performed by adding
broken-hatched circle, [NaP5W30O110]14- same per- acetic anhydride (5 mL) to a solution of H14-P5 (0.02 g)
spective as in part a but with nearest ring of five and p-aminophenol (2 g) at room temperature with stir-
WO6 octahedra removed, revealing PO 4 tetrahe- ring.
dra (shaded). The heterogeneous reactions were performed by con-
tacting p-aminophenol (2 g), acetic anhydride (5 mL)
This polyanion consists of a cyclic assembly of five with 0.1 g of 10 – 50% H14-P5/SiO2 at room temperature
PW6O22 units, each driven from the Keggin anion, for the mentioned time with intense stirring. At the end
[PW12O40]3-, by the removal of two sets of three corner of reaction, the mixture was diluted with 50 mL of water,
shared WO6 octahedra. and the crude product was precipitated in an ice bath. The
A sodium ion is located within the polyanion on the crude product was removed and after the usual work up,
five-fold axis and 1.25 A° above the pseudomirror plane the resulting solid was washed with cold water and
that contains the five phosphorus atom. recrystallized in ethyl acetate. The product was character-
ized by comparison of its spectroscopic ( IR, 1H-NMR,
EXPERIMENTAL SECTION Mass) data and the melting point, with that of an authentic
sample. The product yield was determined quantitatively.
Materials Upon the completion of the reaction monitored by
All chemicals were obtained from Merck and used as (TLC) the reaction mixture was diluted with sodium bi-
received. Acetic anhydride, p-aminophenol, sodium carbonate 10% (15 ml) and extracted with CH2Cl2 (3×20
tungstate dihydrate, molybdotungstate dihydrate, mL). The combined organic layers were dried over Na2SO4,
orthophosphoric acid, phosphoric acid, ethyl acetate, the solvent was removed by evaporation to afford the
acetylated compound.
Pol. J. Chem. Tech., Vol. 11, No. 2, 2009 33
view of the difference in softness or hardness of hydroxyl such an active intermediate has acidity like HPA. The pH
of various supports and HPAs, the reaction between value of the medium and the acidity of HPA itself have an
heteropolyanion and hydroxyl on the support may pro- effect on its immobilized firmness. The models of the two
ceed in accordance to a two-step ligand exchange mecha- mechanisms can be described as shown in Fig .3, 4.
nism as follows (hard-hard reaction), (equation.1) or co- In addition, because of the higher surface density of
ordination of protonated surface hydroxyl with most anions it is likely that the reason is related to the
heteropolyanion in solution to form an outer sphere sur- interaction between the surface and the dissolved anion as
face complex instead of exchange reaction (hard-soft reac- well as the interaction among adsorbed molecules in the
tion), (equation.2) , Fig 3 and 4. horizontal direction. In ideal conditions, it is reasonable
M- OH + H+ → MOH+2 (1) to assume that the first step of the dissociation of HPA in
MOH 2 ( support ) + HPA (aq) → MOH 2 (HPA) (2)
+ -1 + -1 solvent should be considered as HPA.
At the same time, the surface hydroxyl could also form
Where M and MOH are Si ion and surface hydroxyl,
several kinds of adsorption sites in the solvent. When
respectively.
HPA is adsorbed, the adsorbtion states, in general, would
Owing to the difference in acid-Base strength of the
be represented as follows (eq. 3):
surface hydroxyl as well as HPA, the result of their inter-
action would lead to the formation of active intermediates MOH + HPA → M-OH+2 (3)
with different acid strength and immobilized firmness, The major problem, limiting the utility of homogene-
ously catalyzed processes, is the well-known difficulty in
catalyst recovery and recycling. The recycling of HPA
catalysts is the key issue to their application.
In Keggin HPAs, the amount of proton is effective in
the increase rate of reactions. We used H6[P2W18O62] as
a Wells-Dowsen HPA in this reaction and had a suitable
yield with this catalyst because this type has some of the
acidity protons, more from other keggin heteropolyacids
types. Besides these HPAs, we considered other HPAs
(Lacunary groups) including (PW 11 , PW 11 NiO 40 ,
PW 11 CoO 40 , PW 11 ZnO 40 ) for acetylation of p-
aminophenol in acetic anhydride. These HPAs were not
efficient; they are very weak for this reaction because they
have not any acidity protons in their structures. When this
reaction was carried out at room temperature without the
catalyst, the product was obtained in low yield (9%) and
long time, as it was shown in (table 1, entry 20).
CONCLUSIONS
Inexpensive, eco-friendly, recyclable and available
heteropolyacids as efficient solid acid catalysts for the
acetylation of p-aminophenol in acetic anhydride, were
Figure 3. A schematic proposal of a hydroxyl surface used. The H14-P5 shows higher activity than the other
showing association with surface hydroxyl (S): forms of Preyssler, as well as Keggin types and phosphoric
(a) Exchange mechanism, (b) surface hydroxyl, acid. One of important features of these solid acids is high
(c) coordination mechanism, (b) (α) inner- thermal and hydrolytic stability throughout a wide pH
sphere complexes, (ß)outer-sphere complexes,
range. Thus, a wide range of catalytic reactions can be
(d) the diffuse ion swarm
affected without a loss of structure and activity. The re-
Figure 4. The mechanism of the interaction between Preyssler (HPAs) and the surface of support
Pol. J. Chem. Tech., Vol. 11, No. 2, 2009 35