A novel silver nanoparticle embedded mesoporous polyaniline (mPANI/Ag) nanocomposite as a recyclable catalyst in the acylation of amines and alcohols under solvent free conditions

Abstract

A mesoporous polyaniline/silver (mPANI/Ag) nanocomposite has been prepared using mesoporous organic polymer polyaniline with silver nitrate via radical polymerization of aniline monomer in the presence of hydrochloric acid. The mPANI/Ag nanocomposite has been characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectra (EDX), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and ultraviolet-visible absorption spectra (UV-vis). The XRD patterns indicated that the crystalline phase of Ag is cubic. TEM images show that the Ag nanoparticles are well dispersed in the mesoporous polyaniline matrix. The mPANI/Ag acts as an efficient heterogeneous nanocatalyst in the acylation of substituted amines and alcohols using acetic acid. The catalyst is air-stable, inexpensive, easy to prepare and can be reused several times without a significant decrease in activity and selectivity.