An efficient piperazine-based tertiary poly(amic acid) heterogeneous catalyst to prepare pyrrolidinone scaffolds

Given the abundance of functional groups, meso- and macro-pores, and a high surface area, the piperazine-based poly(amic acid) was employed as a heterogeneous catalyst in the multicomponent reaction to prepare pyrrolidinone scaffolds in a green solvent, acting as a medium for mass transfer and crystallization solvent. The important parameters of the reaction were investigated to find the optimal reaction conditions. A conversion of 100% was obtained at reflux conditions within 30–100 min using a catalytic amount of 200 mg of piperazine-based poly(amic acid) per 2 mmol of reactants (100 mg of cat./1 mmol of reactant). The piperazine-based poly(amic acid) exhibited high recyclability and the recovered catalyst could be used in successive runs without worthy loss in its activity. This work revealed the catalytic activity of the piperazine-based poly(amic acid) as a promising functional polymeric heterogeneous catalyst for organic synthesis.