Simple Synthesis of Novel Cr-EDTA-MOF: A Green, Reusable, and Versatile Catalyst for the Production of Biodiesel Fuel from Oleic Acid and Palmitic Acid

Herein, we reported an efficient and novel metal–organic framework (MOF) that was designed and fabricated via hydrothermal reaction of chromium­(III) nitrate nonahydrate salt with EDTA as an organic ligand. The prepared MOF was investigated by PXRD, BET, SEM, EDS, FT-IR, and X-ray mapping techniques. N2 adsorption–desorption isotherms indicated excellent BET surface area for Cr-EDTA-MOF, which is 234.55 m2/g. The prepared Cr-EDTA-MOF exhibits efficient and potential performance for the esterification of oleic and palmitic acids under gentle reaction conditions. Furthermore, this nanostructure material afforded several benefits, including excellent product yields, stability, easy methodology, easy workup, and greener situations. Furthermore, this heterogeneous nanocatalyst (Cr-EDTA-MOF) could be easily recovered from the reaction mixture by centrifugation and reused for four consecutive runs with a minimum loss of catalytic activity.