Addition Reaction of Benzaldehydes and Chloroform Catalyzed by Modified Calcium Oxide

The addition reaction between p -nitrobenzaldehyde and chloroform is efficiently catalyzed by commercial CaO modified with benzyl bromide in a simple way. The modified CaO catalyst displays good water resistance. FTIR and TG data show that the modifier chemically bonds to the CaO surface. It was found that the catalytic activity of modified CaO is greatly improved compared to neat commercial CaO. The effects of modification and reaction conditions on the yields as well as the mechanism were studied thoroughly.