A new synthetic strategy for carbon catalysts based on carbonization of a porous polymer precursor gives the possibility of making a hierarchically porous carbon (HPC) incorporating metal ions and metal nanoparticles in a single process. The synthesis employs a resorcinol-formaldehyde (RF) polymerization which gives first a sol and then a gel which contains both mesopores and macropores. Addition of metal salts adversely affects the polymerization. Metal complexation can alleviate this, but only if the complex is itself soluble. Phthalocyanines are particularly attractive ligands because of the high thermal stability of their complexes, however in their unfunctionalized form they have very low water solubility. Tetra-polyethylene glycol metal phthalocyanine (TpegxxxMPc) complexes are expected to disperse well in the water-ethanol solvent system used in the polymerization process. TpegxxxMPcs were synthesized (peg = peg200, peg400, peg600 and M = Ni and Cu) using 4-nitro phthalonitrile as starting material. The metal complexes were then included into the synthesis of hierarchically porous polymers and converted to HPC. Physical characterization of the carbons was done by SEM, XRD, gas absorption UV-Vis, and FTIR. Oxidation of cyclohexene and reduction of p-nitro aniline were successfully studied using HPC prepared from Tpeg200CuPc and Tpeg400NiPc with significant yield.

Development of pegylated metal phthalocyanines, and incorporation in hierarchically porous carbon monoliths as heterogeneous catalyst

ACS Fall 2021

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