High catalytic activity of nitrogen-containing carbon from molecular sieves in fine chemistry

Nanostructured nitrogen-containing carbon (CNs) were prepared by nanocasting techniques using MCM-41, MCM-22, and FAU molecular sieves. The surface and morphological features of CN were investigated by XRD, SEM, Raman spectroscopy, FTIR, XPS, and N₂ adsorption isotherms. The catalytic activity in a fine chemistry reaction was also evaluated. The amine-functionalized carbon materials studied are potentially of great importance because of their textural features and high catalytic performance towards Knoevenaguel condensation. In addition, variation of the structure of the molecular sieve material from FAU to MCM-41 led to an increase in the conversion from 23 to 80%. This may be correlated to the basic active sites upon incorporation of nitrogen and also an organized CN that provides active, selective, and stable catalysts to the target reaction. The re-use of the MCM-41-CN does not affect the selectivity of the desired product.