Department of Inorganic Chemistry, Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society, Faradayweg 4-6, 14195 Berlin, Germany.
ChemSusChem. 2010 Feb 22;3(2):241-5. doi: 10.1002/cssc.200900181.
Nitrogen-functionalized carbon nanotubes were synthesized by grafting amino groups to the surface of the nanotubes. The nanotubes exhibited promising results in the base-catalyzed liquid phase transesterification of glyceryl tributyrate with methanol, which is a model reaction for the production of biodiesel. The concentration of the active sites and the reaction parameters, such as temperature and glyceryl tributyrate to methanol ratio, were shown to significantly affect catalytic performance. The grafting technique employed allowed for design and control of the active sites. As a consequence, it was possible to design a nitrogen-functionalized carbon nanotube catalyst with a few strong, basic groups. This might be of interest for carbohydrate conversion reactions where strong basic sites are required but the pH of the solution should remain mild to avoid the degradation of the reactants and/or products.
氮功能化碳纳米管是通过在纳米管表面接枝氨基基团合成的。这些纳米管在甘油三丁酸甲酯与甲醇的堿催化液相酯交换反应中表现出了良好的效果，该反应是生物柴油生产的模型反应。活性位浓度和反应参数（如温度和甘油三丁酸甲酯与甲醇的比例）对催化性能有显著影响。所采用的接枝技术允许对活性位进行设计和控制。因此，可以设计一种具有少量强堿性基团的氮功能化碳纳米管催化剂。这对于需要强堿性位但溶液 pH 值应保持温和以避免反应物和/或产物降解的碳水化合物转化反应可能具有重要意义。
