Facile single step synthesis of an acid functionalized nano porous carbon composite as an efficient catalyst for tertiary butylation of phenol

Abstract

Here we report a simple synthesis method for the preparation of an acid functionalized nano porous nanocomposite of carbon for the first time from petroleum waste by a simultaneous carbonisation and sulfonation method. The material exhibited the highest ever reported catalytic activity towards liquid phase tertiary butylation of phenol up to several reaction cycles.