An Efficient Al-MOF/Polyoxometalate Hybrid as a Bronsted Solid Acid Catalyst for the Synthesis of β-Alkoxy Alcohols from Epoxides

MIL-53(Al), a metal-organic framework (MOF) based on aluminum, was used as a host MOF to encapsulate phosphotungstic acid (PTA) as a Brønsted acid specie via the bottle around the ship approach. The synthesized PTA@MIL-53(Al) catalyst has been identified as an exceptionally efficient heterogeneous acid catalyst for the alcoholysis of epoxide, specifically the ring-opening of styrene oxide with alcohols under mild reaction conditions. Optimization of reaction parameters, including temperature and catalyst loading, was conducted to determine the most favorable conditions. Under the optimal conditions (60 °C, 20 mg, and 6 h), the synthesized catalyst demonstrated outstanding catalytic performance, achieving a 97.5% conversion with complete selectivity (100%) toward 2-methoxy-2-phenylethanol production. Furthermore, the catalytic system was systematically evaluated with a range of epoxides and alcohols, yielding reasonable conversion rates that were influenced by the specific nature of the epoxide-alcohol combinations employed.