Convenient and Simple Esterification in Continuous-Flow Systems using g-DMAP.

The utility and applicability of polyethylene-g-polyacrylic acid-immobilized dimethylaminopyridine (g-DMAP) as a catalyst in a continuous-flow system were investigated for decarboxylative esterification. High catalytic activity toward acylation was provided by g-DMAP containing a flexible grafted-polymer structure. During decarboxylation, carboxylic acids and alcohols were converted cleanly using di-tert-butyl dicarbonate (Boc2O) as a coupling reagent, which reduced by-products.

Dimethylaminopyridine-supported graft polymer catalyst and its flow system.

A new heterogeneous organocatalyst, graft polymer supported dimethylaminopyridine (g-DMAP), is developed. This catalyst has a flexible structure and comprises DMAP anchored to the polyethylene-graft-polyacrylic acid (PE-g-PAA). It exhibits higher activity than DMAP supported on polystyrene cross-linked with divinylbenzene and can be recovered in batch mode acetylation.