Synthesis of 5-acetylacenaphthene using silica-supported phosphotungstic heteropoly acid as an efficient and reusable catalyst

To obtain new fine chemical and intermediate of functional polymer material, the acylation of acenaphthene with benzoyl chloride to 5-acetylacenaphthene catalyzed by silica-supported phosphotungstic heteropoly acid (PW/SiO2) was investigated. Pure 5-acetylacenaphthene was obtained and its structure was identified by GC/MS, FT-IR and H-1 NMR spectra. The effects of experimental parameters on the catalytic acylation reaction and the possibility of reusability of PW/SiO2 catalyst were studied. Under optimun conditions, the yield and the selectivity of 5-acetylacenaphthene were up to 81.3 % and 93.6 %, respectively. PW/SiO2 shows well catalytic activity after running for 5 times. The experimental results indicate that PW/Sio(2) is a recyclable and environmentally benign catalyst in the synthesis of 5-acetylacenaphthene.