Acid-activated carbon materials: Cheaper alternative catalysts for the synthesis of substituted quinolines

We describe the first examples of Friedländer reactions efficiently catalyzed by carbon materials. We report herein a series of acidic activated carbon materials, which can be considered as an environmentally friendly, cheaper alternative to the traditional acidic mesoporous silicates or even zeolites for the synthesis of quinolines/quinolones. Textural parameters of the acidic activated carbon materials together with their acidic properties are important factors that affect the reaction selectivity. Some mechanistic details have been addressed by computational calculations. Freeloading on the Friedländer: Acidic microporous activated carbon materials containing sulfonic acid groups can be considered environmentally friendly and cheaper catalytic alternatives for the Friedländer reaction compared to traditional acidic solids such as zeolites or even mesoporous silicates. The textural characteristics of the most efficient materials determine the parameters for the conversion and selectivity of the reaction. Copyright © 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.Peer Reviewe