Cesium modified heteropoly acid supported on clay as catalyst in selective synthesis of acetylferrocene

Abstract

Ferrocene and its derivatives are very interesting moieties on account of their fascinating sandwich structure and unusual properties. Acylferrocene is one of the most important motifs among the ferrocene derivatives, used as an intermediate for the production of materials such as functional polymers, charge transfer complexes, chiral catalysts, combustion catalysts for propellants, pharmaceutical treatment, etc. Acylferrocene is traditionally synthesized via Friedel – Crafts acylation in the presence of homogeneous Lewis acid or Bronsted acid catalysts. These processes lead to low yields of acylferrocene due to the formation of di- or polyacylation products, and substantial amounts acidic waste are created that cause serious environmental problems. Therefore, new, convenient routes to make acylferrocenes is of great practical importance. In the presence of solid acid catalyst Cs2.5H0.5PW12O40 supported on K-10 clay (designated as Cs-DTP/K-10), ferrocene is acylated in 1,2-dichloroethane by different anhydrides to furnish highly chemoselective monoacylferrocenes. The effects of various reaction parameters on the rate of reaction were investigated to deduce the intrinsic kinetics of the reaction.