N-Alkylation of Alkylolamines with Alcohols Over Mesoporous Solid Acid–Base Cs–B–Zr Catalyst

The mesoporous solid acid–base Cs–B–Zr mixed oxides were synthesized using the co-precipitation method followed by a subsequent thermal treatment. The catalytic activity of solid Cs–B–Zr mixed oxide was tested for solvent free acid–base catalysed direct alkylolamines with alcohols as green alkylating agent. The effects of Cs/B/Zr ratio, calcination temperature, reaction conditions, and reaction substrate on the catalytic performance of the catalysts were investigated. The XRD, N 2 adsorption–desorption, ICP-OES, FT-IR and NH 3 /CO 2 -TPD results showed that the mesoporous structure and acid–base properties of the catalysts play important roles in the reaction. A suitable number of acid and basic sites on the catalyst lead to a high activity for the N -alkylation reaction. Graphical Abstract A direct N -alkylation of amino alcohol with alcohols has been developed using mixed oxide Cs–B–Zr as an acid–base bifunctionalized catalyst.