Copper Fluorapatite-Catalyzed Aza-Michael Reaction and Kinetic Studies

Aza-Michael reaction was successfully carried out by using a copper fluorapatite (CuFAP) catalyst. The reaction of piperidine and cyclohexenone using CuFAP resulted in 70% conversion and 100% selectivity of 3-(piperidin-1-yl)cyclohexan-1-one. A kinetic model was validated by Langmuir–Hinshelwood–Hougen–Watson at varying temperatures, and the absence of mass transfer resistance was verified by the Weisz Prater criterion. The effect of different catalysts, temperature, catalyst loading, solvents, mole ratio of reactants, and stirring speed was studied. The synthesized catalyst was characterized by FTIR, BET nitrogen adsorption–desorption, TEM, EDX, XPS, ICP-MS, and XRD. CuFAP catalyst was found to be stable for up to four cycles with no change in activity.