A New Route for Nanocomposite Photocatalyst Mediated Synthesis of 2,5-dimethylpyrazine

Synthesis of N-containing heterocyclic compound, 2,5-dimethylpyrazine,is reported with moderate yields. It is achieved by heterogeneous photocatalysis at room temperature from inexpensive and readily available reactants i.e., propylenediamine and propylene glycol by cyclization. Various semiconductor supported zeolite photocatalysts were used for the synthesis in the acetonitrile medium. The reaction conditions have been optimized to get the maximum yield by modifying the catalyst, mole ratio of the reactants and irradiation time. ZSM-5 with 5% TiO2 gives higher yields up to 32.4 mol %.