ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Chem.
Sec. Porous Crystalline Networks
Active porous ZIF-8 based hybrid catalysts for solvent-free reactions
- SS
Salete S Balula 1
- CS
Cesar Sampaio 1
- LD
Luis Dias 1
- IS
Isabel Santos-Vieira 2
- EP
Eulalia Pereira 1
- LC
Luís Cunha Silva 3
- FM
Fatima Mirante 1
1. Chemistry and Technology Network (REQUIMTE), Porto, Portugal
2. Universidade de Aveiro CICECO, Aveiro, Portugal
3. Laboratorio Nacional de Energia e Geologia, Amadora, Portugal
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Abstract
In this work, hybrid heterogeneous polymeric catalysts were prepared by distinct methodologies to evaluate their catalytic ability, stability and recycling capacity to promote the ring-opening reaction of styrene oxide with aniline resulting as main product the 2-Amino-1,2-diphenylethanol. These composites were based on porous metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), specifically the zinc-based ZIF-8, activated catalytically by the incorporation of Keggin-type phosphomolybdic acid (PMo₁₂). The resulting composite denoted as PMo₁₂@ZIF-8 was prepared via impregnation and in-situ methods (PMo₁₂ loadings of 0.149 and 0.194 mmol/g were obtained via in-situ and impregnation procedures). Both materials were characterized by FTIR-ATR, PXRD, SEM, EDS, and ICP-OES. The catalytic performance evaluation revealed that both composites exhibited high conversion rates under a sustainable solvent-free system (98% of conversion was achieved after 24 h) , and high selectivity toward 2-Amino-1,2-diphenylethanol, along with notable robustness and recyclability.
Summary
Keywords
Aminolysis, Epoxide ring-opening, Heterogeneous catalysis, polyoxometalates, Porous coordination polymers
Received
29 May 2026
Accepted
13 August 2026
Copyright
© 2026 Balula, Sampaio, Dias, Santos-Vieira, Pereira, Cunha Silva and Mirante. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Salete S Balula
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