Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) have garnered extensive attention as promising candidates for heterogeneous catalysts, attributed to their high surface area and ease of functionalization. In this study, we present a functional imine COF, named Por-NHC-COF, which is meticulously synthesized through a Schiff base reaction between a porphyrin and an N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) monomer building blocks. This new COF exhibits good crystallinity, high chemical and thermal stability. Notably, the as-synthesized Por-NHC-COF demonstrates a high catalytic efficiency for organic reactions under gentle conditions. One notable application is its efficacy in Knoevenagel condensation reactions, yielding the target product with exceptional yields (>99%) in a short reaction time (1 hour) at ambient temperature. Remarkable, both the crystallinity and catalytic performance showed unchanged even after 6 recycle tests, indicating the COF’s robustness and recyclable nature. Once in strong base conditions, the Por-NHC-COF exhibits distinct catalytic performance, due to the successful dehydrogenation of imidazolium into NHC, thereby enabling the catalytic synthesis γ-butyrolactone under room temperature. The versatile and adaptable nature of our Por-NHC-COF would serve as a potent catalyst for a wide range of chemical transformations.

You have access to this article

Please wait while we load your content... Something went wrong. Try again?