New heterogeneous catalysts for greener routes in the synthesis of fine chemicals

Abstract New strong Lewis acid SnTf-MCM-41 and SnTf-UVM-7 catalysts with unimodal and bimodal pore systems were prepared in a two-step synthesis in which the triflic acid (Tf) was incorporated to previously synthesized mesoporous tin-containing silicas. The Sn incorporation inside the pore walls was carried out through the Atrane method. The SnTf-UVM-7 catalysts were prepared by aggregating nanometric mesoporous particles defining a hierarchic textural-type additional pore system. Following these procedures, catalysts with different Si/Sn ratios—21.8 to 50.8 for SnTf-MCM-41 and 18.4 for SnTf-UVM-7—were prepared. These new materials were tested in the acylation of aromatic sulfonamides using…