文摘
Graphene oxide and its derivative have attracted extensive interests in many fields, including catalytic chemistry, organic synthesis, and electrochemistry, recently. We explored whether the use of graphene after chemical modification with amino acids to immobilize copper nanoparticles could achieve a more excellent catalytic activity for N-arylation reactions. A facile and novel method to prepare copper supported on amino-acid-grafted graphene hybrid materials (A鈥揋鈥揅u) was first reported. The as-prepared hybrid materials were characterized by a variety of techniques, including Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and inductively coupled plasma鈥揳tomic emission spectrometry. The results showed that the morphology, distribution, and loading of copper nanoparticles could be well-adjusted by controlling the type of amino acids grafted on graphene. Moreover, most A鈥揋鈥揅u hybrid materials could catalyze N-arylation of imidazole with iodobenzene with yields more than 90%, while the copper supported on graphene (G鈥揅u) displayed a yield of just 65.8%. The high activity of A鈥揋鈥揅u can be ascribed to the good synergistic effects of copper nanoparticles (Cu NPs) and amino-acid-grafted graphene.
Keywords:
functionalized graphene; copper; catalyst; amino acids; N-arylation
