A mild procedure for enone preparation catalysed by bovine serum albumin in a green and easily available medium

Abstract

A simple and mild procedure to obtain α,β-unsaturated ketones from acetone and a set of benzaldehydes is described. The approach applies bovine serum albumin (BSA) catalysis and water or ethanol, this mild reaction medium contrasting with the strong reaction conditions of the classic aldol condensation. Except for the assayed nitrobenzaldehydes, high enone yields (88?97%) were attained. In addition to its mildness, further advantages of this procedure are the use of a green catalyst exhibiting an efficient reuse and the use of eco-friendly and cheap solvents. In order to gain a deeper understanding of the involved catalytic mechanism, computational experiments on BSA structural analysis and molecular docking were carried out.