Deprotonation of 2-acetylpyridine was carried out in the presence of NaH as a phase transfer catalyst instead of NaOH to minimize side products formation. The products were then treated with two equivalents of alkyl/aryl halide to synthesize a variety of acetyl pyridine derivatives. The compounds were structurally characterized by 1H- and 13C-NMR spectroscopy in solution state. Structure of compound 2 was also confirmed in solid state by X-ray diffraction. Electronic properties such as Mulliken charges, frontier molecular orbitals (HOMO-LUMO), ionization energy (IE), electron affinity (EA), global hardness (η), Chemical Potential (µ) and Global electrophilicity (ω) of some compounds were investigated by the same theory using B3LYP-6-311G basis set.

Zirconia was prepared by a precipitation method and calcined at 723 K, 1023 K, and 1253 K in order to obtain monoclinic zirconia. The prepared zirconia was characterized by XRD, SEM, EDX, surface area and pore size analyzer, and particle size analyzer. Monoclinic ZrO2 as a catalyst was used for the gas-phase oxidation of isopropanol to acetone in a Pyrex-glass-flow-type reactor with a temperature range of 443 K - 473 K. It was found that monoclinic ZrO2 shows remarkable catalytic activity (68%) and selectivity (100%) for the oxidation of isopropanol to acetone. This kinetic study reveals that the oxidation of isopropanol to acetone follows the L-H mechanism.