Ordered Mesoporous Carbon Encapsulating KF: Efficient and Stable Solid Base for Biodiesel and Fine Chemical Catalytic Synthesis

Developing efficient and reusable catalysts to transform raw feedstocks into high value-added fine chemicals and biofuels has received considerable research interest. Herein, we report ordered mesoporous carbon (OMC) encapsulating KF to design novel chainmail solid base catalysts (KF@OMC-x, where x stands for the weight ratio of potassium). The OMC armor can be facilely prepared from a one-step mechanochemical synthesis without the assistance of any solvents, which was achieved from the grinding of resorcinol, terephthalaldehyde, and block copolymer template (Pluronic F127, PEO106-PPO70-PEO106), solidothermal treatment at 150 degrees C, and calcined at 360 degrees C for the removal of the template. The obtained OMC was then impregnated with the KF precursor and annealed at 500 degrees C to reinforce the interaction, and the KF superbase site can be encapsulated into the OMC armor. The resultant KF@OMC-x possess characteristics including large BET surface areas (351-445 m(2)/g), long-range ordered mesoporosity with narrow pore sizes (similar to 6.0 nm), and good dispersion of KF superbase sites with an enhanced stability. Consequently, KF@OMC-x can be employed as high-efficient and reusable catalysts in base-catalyzed liquid reactions including toward transesterification to biodiesel and Knoevenagel condensation to fine chemicals. Their activities were even better than widely used strong base catalysts such as KF, Na2CO3, CaO, and hydrotalcite. This study may help to develop effective and stable solid base catalysts for the scalable production of biofuels under harsh industrial processes.