Expedient Catalytic Access to Knoevenagel Condensation Using Sr3Al2O6 Nanocomposite in Room Temperature

Sr3Al2O6 nanocomposite was prepared by sol gel method using aluminum isopropoxide, strontium nitrate, acetylacetone and polyethylene glycol as template, followed by calcination at 900 A degrees C. This nanocomposite was characterized by various techniques including X-ray powder diffraction, infrared spectroscopy, elemental analysis, scanning transmission microscope and transmission electron microscope. It was found that Sr3Al2O6 nanocomposite successfully catalyzes the Knoevenagel condensation of aromatic aldehydes with malononitrile in room temperature in ethanol. Expedient access to the corresponding Knoevenagel adducts in moderate to high yields within 6 min is promising. The recovered catalyst was reused for three times without significant loss of activity.