Abstract
Metal free Brønsted acid-functionalized porphyrin, entangled with benzimidazolium moiety (MFBAFPBM) was synthesized and confirmed by various characterization techniques. The Hammett acidity (H0 = 0.76) was determined and found appreciable proton levels in the catalyst. MFBAFPBM displayed effective heterogeneous photo-catalytic activity for sustainable etherification of furfuryl alcohol, with several alcohols using simulated yellow visible (5 W LED) light at ambient temperature. The low temperature route enhances selectivity by lowering the formation humin and other hydrolysis products. The higher catalytic presentation can be related to good Hammett acidity of the catalyst having suitable porphyrin chromophore with ionic benzimidazole moiety on perylene support. A study for optimizing the reaction parameters such as catalyst loading, duration and source of visible light and mole ratio of reactants (1:1.2 Furfuryl alcohol : ROH) has been performed and 20 mg catalyst exhibited the highest catalytic activity with 95% yield of furfuryl ethyl ether. A kinetic study showing the evidences for the progress of etherification of furfuryl alcohol was also confirmed by 1HNMR. MFBAFPBM evidenced as reusable photo-catalyst that could easily separated from the reaction mixture for next cycle nine times without loss of catalytic performances. Finally, blending of furfuryl-octyl ether with diesel (10, 20 and 30%) found to be much appreciable fuel properties than that of real diesel sample.
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