Nanofibrils of a Cu^II-Thiophenyltriazine-Based Porous Polymer: A Diverse Heterogeneous Nanocatalyst

Herein, we report knitting of a thiophenyltriazine-based porous organic polymer (TTPOP) with high surface area and high abundance of nitrogen and sulfur sites, synthesized through a simple one-step Friedel-Crafts reaction of 2,4,6-tri(thiophen-2-yl)-1,3,5-triazine and formaldehyde dimethyl acetal in the presence of anhydrous FeCl₃, and thereafter grafting of Cu(OAc)₂·H₂O in the porous polymer framework to achieve the potential catalyst (Cu^II-TTPOP). TTPOP and Cu^II-TTPOP were characterized thoroughly utilizing solid-state ¹³C-CP MAS NMR, Fourier transform infrared, wide-angle powder X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and surface imaging by transmission electron microscopy and field emission scanning electron microscopy. The porosity of the nanomaterials was observed in the surface imaging and verified through conducting N₂ gas adsorption techniques. Keeping in mind the tremendous importance of C-C and C-N coupling and cyclization processes, the newly synthesized Cu^II-TTPOP was employed successfully for a wide range of organic catalytic transformations under mild conditions to afford directly valuable diindolylmethanes and spiro-analogues, phthalimidines, propargyl amines, and their sugar-based chiral compounds with high yields using readily available substrates. The highly stable new heterogeneous catalyst showed outstanding sustainability, robustness, simple separation, and recyclability.