Fe-Containing MOFs as Seeds for the Preparation of Highly Active Fe/Al-SBA-15 Catalysts in the NAlkylation of Aniline.

We have successfully incorporated iron species into mesoporous aluminosilicates (AlSBA15) using a simple mechanochemical milling method. The catalysts were characterized by nitrogen physisorption, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), pyridine (PY) and 2,6-dimethylpyridine (DMPY) pulse chromatography titration, powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDX). The catalysts were tested in the N-alkylation reaction of aniline with benzyl alcohol for imine production.