Cu3(BTC)2 metal organic framework as heterogeneous solid catalyst for the reduction of styrenes with silane as reducing agent

Abstract

In this work, a well known metal organic framework, Cu3(BTC)2 (BTC: 1,3,5-benzenetricarboxylate) is reported as a heterogeneous solid catalyst for the reduction of styrene and its derivatives with silane as a reducing agent. Under these reaction conditions, a quantitative conversion of styrene is achieved with very high selectivity to ethylbenzene. A control experiment with pyridine as a catalyst poison revealed that Cu2+ located within the framework plays a crucial role in promoting this reduction. Further, hot-filtration test indicated the absence of metal leaching and Cu3(BTC)2 is used four times with no significant decay in its activity. In addition, the four times used Cu3(BTC)2 was compared with the fresh solid by powder X-ray diffraction, FT-IR, UV–Visible diffuse reflectance spectra, scanning electron microscope and electron paramagnetic resonance methods and observing no significant changes in its structural integrity, crystallinity and morphology. This process is extended for other styrene derivatives to their respective reduced products.