Evaluation of the catalytic activity of Zn-MOF-74 for the alcoholysis of cyclohexene oxide

In the present work, nanocrystalline Zn-MOF-74 is shown to be a heterogeneous catalyst for the acid-catalyzed ring-opening alcoholysis of cyclohexene oxide. The results corroborated that accessible open metal sites within the material are critical conditions (Zn( ii ) Lewis acid sites) for this reaction. Zn-MOF-74 was tested at three different temperatures (30, 40, and 50 °C) for the alcoholysis reaction. Furthermore, the cyclohexene oxide conversion was 94% in less than two days. A comparison of the catalytic activity with different crystal sizes of Zn-MOF-74 and the homogenous phase, zinc acetate, was conducted. Zn-MOF-74 exhibited excellent catalytic cyclability for three cycles without losing its activity. The material showed chemical stability by retaining its crystalline structure after the reaction and cyclability process. In the present work, nanocrystalline Zn-MOF-74 is shown to be a heterogeneous catalyst for the acid-catalyzed ring-opening alcoholysis of cyclohexene oxide.