Impregnation of tungstophosphoric acid on poly(methacrylamide-co-methyl methacrylate) and its acid catalytic activity in TMB alkylation

Abstract

A poly (methacrylamide-co-methylmethacrylate) (abbreviated PMAA-MMA) polymer support was studied for supporting a heteropolyacid (tungstophosphoric acid, H3PW12O40) with its surface positively charged in the polymerization step. PMAA-MMA supports could be obtained in a porous form by eliminating template reagent molecules (benzylmalonic acid) combined with properly selected monomer (methacrylamide). The amount of amine groups in PMAA-MMA directly determined the amount of H3PW12O40 impregnated, because the amine groups induced a positive charge on the PMAA-MMA surface. Finally, H3PW12O40/PMAA-MMA showed better acid catalytic activities than unsupported H3PW12O40 in alkylation of 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene with cyclohexene, which confirmed that PMAA-MMA supported H3PW12O40 effectively.