Reusable Mg supported IRMOF-3 as a heterogeneous nanocatalyst for chemoselective reduction of biomass-based aldehydes and ketones to alcohols under mild conditions.

A novel, durable heterogeneous magnesium-supported catalyst, IRMOF-3@Di(2-pyridyl) ketone@Mg(II) (Di(2-pyridyl) ketone: Di-2pyk), was effectively synthesized using a convenient approach and fully characterized utilizing chemo-physical analysis techniques such as powder X-ray diffraction analysis, attenuated total reflection infrared spectroscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, CHN analysis, inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller measurements. This metal-organic framework-based nanocatalyst displayed excellent catalytic behaviour in chemoselective hydrogenation of five biomass-based carbonyl compounds of furfural, cinnamaldehyde, levulinic acid, vanillin and citral in addition to a variety of aliphatic, aromatic, and α,β-unsaturated aldehydes and ketones at room temperature in water in the presence of sodium borohydride as a mild and safe hydrogen source reagent. The leaching and reusability experiments of this catalyst exhibited stability and reactivity after four runs.