Toward a New Way for the Valorization of Miscanthus Biomass Produced on Metal-Contaminated Soils Part 2: Miscanthus-Based Biosourced Catalyst: Design, Preparation, and Catalytic Efficiency in the Synthesis of Moclobemide

The conception of two biosourced catalysts (biocatalysts) using stems of miscanthus from the first part of this study are described herein. The temperature and the process used to extract metals from plant as mixture of Lewis acids were investigated in detail and proved to be essential in the design of the biosourced catalysts and their catalytic efficiency. One part of the crude mixture of Lewis acids extracted from the aerial parts of miscanthus plants was used without further treatment as a homogeneous biocatalyst (M1), and the other part was supported on montmorillonite K10 to provide a heterogeneous biocatalyst (MM1). M1 and MM1 were next tested in the synthesis of moclobemide (main ingredient of a drug used to treat depression) and led to excellent yield. Additional comparative experiments with different commercial metallic salts (NaCl, KCl, CaCl2, MgCl2, CuCl2, ZnCl2, FeCl2, FeCl3, MnCl2, and AlCl3) and their mixtures were carried out and underlined the importance of the multimetallic synergy on catalytic activity. Finally, a comparison of this new synthetic method assisted by the biosourced catalyst with the previously described procedures to access moclobemide was realized by calculating their green chemistry metrics. This study revealed that the use of the biosourced catalyst led to one of the greenest synthetic methods described today to produce moclobemide.