Synthesis of 1-benzoylpyrene using silica-supported phosphotungstic heteropoly acid as an efficient and reusable catalyst

A novel one-pot catalytic synthesis of 1-benzoylpyrene through acylation of pyrene with benzoic anhydride catalyzed by several heteropoly acids (HPAs) was investigated. Pure 1-benzoylpyrene was obtained and its structure was identified by GC/MS, FT-IR and 1 H NMR spectra. Silica-supported phosphotungstic heteropoly acid (PW/SiO 2 ) was found to be the most active catalyst in the acylation. The yield and the selectivity of 1-benzoylpyrene were up to 62.5% and 100%, respectively. The effects of experimental parameters on the catalytic acylation reaction, and the possibility of reusability of PW/SiO 2 catalyst were studied. PW/SiO 2 catalyst is easily separable from the reaction mixture and reusable without loss of its activity.