The activity and recyclability of Cu-MOF-74 as a catalyst was studied for the ligand-free C-O cross-coupling reaction of 4-nitrobenzaldehyde (NB) with phenol (Ph) to form 4-formyldiphenyl ether (FDE). Cu-MOF-74 is characterized by having unsaturated copper sites in a highly porous metal-organic framework. The influence of solvent, reaction temperature, NB/Ph ratio, catalyst concentration, and basic agent (type and concentration) were evaluated. High conversions were achieved at 120 °C, 5 mol % of catalyst, NB/Ph ratio of 1:2, DMF as solvent, and 1 equivalent of K₂CO₃ base. The activity of Cu-MOF-74 material was higher than other ligand-free copper catalytic systems tested in this study. This catalyst was easily separated and reused in five successive runs, achieving a remarkable performance without significant porous framework degradation. The leaching of copper species in the reaction medium was negligible. The O-arylation between NB and Ph took place only in the presence of Cu-MOF-74 material, being negligible without the solid catalyst. The catalytic advantages of using nanostructured Cu-MOF-74 catalyst were also proven.
Keywords: 4-formyldiphenyl ether; 4-nitrobenzaldehyde; MOF; O-arylation reaction; catalyst; ligand-free; phenol; recyclable Cu-MOF-74.