Direct Oxidative Amidation of N, N-Dimethylanilines and Anhydrides Using Metal-Organic Frameworks Cu₂ (EDB)₂ (BPY) as an Efficient Heterogeneous Catalyst

Abstract

A crystalline porous metal-organic framework Cu₂(EDB)₂(BPY) was synthesized and used as a heterogeneous catalyst for the direct oxidative amidation between N,N-dimethylanilines and anhydrides forming tertiary amides as the principal products. The Cu₂(EDB)₂(BPY) exhibited similar activity as compared to that of Cu₂(BDC)₂(BPY), Cu₂(BDC)₂(DABCO), MOF-143, and other common homogeneous salt catalysts. The optimal conditions employed Cu2(EDB)2(BPY) (5% mol), TBHP (2 equiv.), pyridine (1 equiv.) in CH₃CN at 80°C in 2 hours. The Cu₂(EDB)₂(BPY) could be separated from the reaction mixture by filtration, and could be recovered and reused several times without a significant degradation in catalytic activity and selectivity. Furthermore, generality of optimal conditions was confirmed by employing various N,N-dimethylaniline and anhydride derivatives.