Preparation of hollow mesoporous boron nitride spheres with surface decorated by CuO: A bifunctional acid-base catalyst for the green synthesis of some heterocyclic [3,3,3] propellane derivatives in water media

In this study, we try to develop an effective route to the preparation of hollow mesoporous boron nitride spheres (HMBNS) with surface decorated by CuO for the synthesis of some heterocyclic [3,3,3] propellane derivatives under green conditions. Hollow boron nitride spheres were synthesized using the carbon spheres (as a primary template) through the reaction of boric acid and urea follow by surface decoration with CuO. The carbonic template was removed by thermal treatment and hollow boron nitride spheres/CuO (HBNS/CuO) was prepared. In addition to boron and nitrogen which have catalytic role, loading of CuO on the boron nitride shell surfaces, creates a special bifunctional acid-base catalyst to synthesis of heterocyclic [3,3,3] propellane derivatives. The structure of prepared catalyst was characterized by FT-IR, XRD, XPS, BET, FE-SEM, EDX and TEM methods and the influence of the catalyst activity was explored for the synthesis of heterocyclic [3,3,3] propellane derivatives in water media at room temperature. Green conditions, easy recovery of catalyst as well as high to excellent yield of products are some of the merits of presented method.