Sulfonated Starbon-400 Catalyzed Esterification, Acylation and Alkylation

Significance

A new sulfonated mesoporous carbonaceous material (Starbon-400-SO₃H) was developed as a heterogeneous acid catalyst. Thus, a mesoporous carbonaceous material Starbon-400 (J. H. Clark and co-workers Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2006, 45, 3782-3786) was suspended in H₂SO₄ to give sulfonated material Starbon-400-SO₃H. Starbon-400-SO₃H was applied to esterification of carboxylic acids in water, acylation of alcohols with acetic acid, and aromatic alkylation with benzyl chloride to give the corresponding products in high conversion with high selectivity (see scheme).