Adsorptive denitrogenation of fuel over molecularly imprinted poly-2-(1H-imidazol-2-yl)-4-phenol microspheres?

New Journal of Chemistry Pub Date: 2018-07-02 DOI: 10.1039/C8NJ02818D

Abstract

Molecularly imprinted poly-2-(1H-imidazol-2-yl)-4-phenol microspheres (MIPs) were prepared by suspension polymerization of 2-(1H-imidazol-2-yl)-4-vinylphenol in the presence of nitrogen containing compounds (N-compounds). Nitrogen containing compounds such as quinoline, pyrimidine and carbazole, largely found in fuel oils, were employed as templates in MIP synthesis. Isothermal titration calorimetric (ITC) studies revealed that quinoline/2-(1H-imidazol-2-yl)-4-phenol (PIMH) and pyrimidine/2-(1H-imidazol-2-yl)-4-phenol (PIMH) interactions were exothermic (?18.0 ± 4.8 and ?28.1 ± 3.6 kJ mol?1, respectively), while the carbazole/2-(1H-imidazol-2-yl)-4-phenol (PIMH) interaction was endothermic (3.3 ± 0.7 kJ mol?1). Imprinted microspheres show selectivity for the various target nitrogen-containing compounds in fuel oil with adsorption capacities of 10.56 mg g?1, 11.71 mg g?1 and 10.84 mg g?1 for pyrimidine, carbazole and quinoline, respectively. The removal of other stubborn nitrogen containing compounds from fuel oil demonstrates their potential application in the field of fuel denitrogenation.

Graphical abstract: Adsorptive denitrogenation of fuel over molecularly imprinted poly-2-(1H-imidazol-2-yl)-4-phenol microspheres
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