title: Chitosan as a reusable solid base catalyst for Knoevenagel condensation reaction.
abstract: In the present work, the commercially available chitosan is reported as a heterogeneous solid base catalyst for Knoevenagel condensation reaction of carbonyl compounds with malononitrile under mild reaction conditions. Chitosan is characterized by powder XRD, IR and elemental analysis. The catalytic activity of chitosan is evaluated in Knoevenagel condensation reaction of benzaldehyde and malononitrile as model substrates and the optimized reaction conditions are further used to expand its activity with various substrates. In addition, the catalyst stability is also examined by performing reusability, leaching experiments and it is observed that the catalyst can be reused for four times with no significant drop in its activity.
authors.affiliation: School of Chemistry, Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India.
authors.forename: Balasubramanian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sakthivel
authors.affiliation: School of Chemistry, Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India. Electronic address: admguru@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Amarajothi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dhakshinamoorthy
mesh_terms: D001547:Benzaldehydes / Q000737:chemistry*; D001597:Benzylidene Compounds / Q000138:chemical synthesis*; D002384:Catalysis; D048271:Chitosan / Q000737:chemistry*; D017743:Equipment Reuse; D055772:Green Chemistry Technology; D007700:Kinetics; D009570:Nitriles / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D001547:Benzaldehydes; D001597:Benzylidene Compounds; D009570:Nitriles; D048271:Chitosan; C000945:dicyanmethane; C032175:benzaldehyde
keywords: Base catalysts; Chitosan; Green chemistry; Heterogeneous catalysis; Knoevenagel condensation