INFLUENCE OF NITROGEN-CONTENT OF A NEW ALUMINOPHOSPHATE OXYNITRIDE CATALYST - ALPON IN KNOEVENAGEL CONDENSATION

A new high surface area solid basic catalyst with tunable acid-base pr operties has recently been proposed [R. Marchand, R. Conanec, Y. Laure nt, Ph. Bastians, P. Grange, L.M. Gandia, M. Montes, J. Fernandes and I. Odriozola, patent application FR 940108 1; R. Conanec, R. Marchand, Y. Laurent, Ph. Bastians and P. Grange, in Soft Chemistry Routes to N ew Materials, Nantes, France, in press; P. Grange, Ph. Bastians, R. Co nanec, R. Marchand and Y. Laurent, Chem. Commun., submitted for public ation). Starting from aluminophosphate (AlPO4) oxide precursor and wit h careful adjustment of the nitridation procedure, it is possible to m odify the global composition, changing the O/N content of the nitrided aluminophosphate (AlPON). This letter evidences that conversion in th e malononitrile-benzaldehyde condensation largely depends on the O/N r atio of these new catalysts. Such basic solids are compared with conve ntional MgO catalyst.