The kinetics of 1,8-diazabicyclo[5.4.0]undec-7-ene (DBU)-catalyzed aldol condensation of furfural with acetone was investigated under free solvent conditions from 50℃ - 90℃. The highest yield of 1,4-pentandien-3-on-1,5-di-furanyl catalyzed by DBU reached 98.0% under optimized conditions. According to the kinetic analysis, the reaction order of furfural was estimated as 1.0, the apparent activation energy was 17.7 kJ.mol.1, and the pre-exponential factor was 2.67 L.min.1 in fitting with the Arrhenius equation, which explains the high efficiency of the DBU catalyst. DBU-catalyzed aldol condensation with free solvent offers an alternative route to simplify aldol condensation and separation into a single step.
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