First Report About the Use of Micellar Keggin Heteropolyacids as Catalysts in the Green Multicomponent Synthesis of Nifedipine Derivatives

Abstract

Micellar Keggin heteropolyacid catalysts were prepared using hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (cetyltrimethylammonium bromide—CTAB), 1-hexadecyl-pyridinium chloride, and Keggin heteropolyacids H3PMo12O40 and H4PMo11VO40 as precursors. Four catalysts were prepared (PMo12C16, PMo11VC16, PMo12C16Py, and PMo11VC16Py) and characterized by 31P NMR, FT-IR, XRD, SEM analysis and textural properties (SBET). The acidic characteristics of the catalysts were determined by potentiometric titration with n-butylamine. A series of bioactive 1,4-dihydropyridine derivatives such as nifedipine and nemadipine B were synthesized using these new materials, in a one-pot procedure in ethanol. This methodology requires a reaction time of 8 h, and a temperature of 78 °C to obtain good to excellent yields of 1,4-dihydropyridine derivatives. The micellar Keggin catalysts are insoluble in polar media, which allows easy removal of the reaction products without affecting their catalytic activity. The leaching test showed that they have an excellent stability and can be used five times as heterogeneous catalysts without appreciable loss of the catalytic activity. Using the same material, unsymmetrical 1,4-dihydropyridines such as nitrendipine can be obtained through a sequence of steps in very good yield (78 %).