CoFe2O4 nanoparticles: An efficient heterogeneous magnetically separable catalyst for “click” synthesis of arylidene barbituric acid derivatives at room temperature

Abstract

A coprecipitation method was used to synthesize superparamagnetic CoFe 2 O 4 nanoparticles without using any capping agents/surfactants. The prepared nanoparticles were characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, a vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM), N 2 adsorption and thermogravimetric/differential thermal analysis/differential thermal gravimetry techniques. The synthesized spinel CoFe 2 O 4 nanoparticles had an average size of 2–8 nm with a high surface area (140.9 m 2 /g). The field-dependent magnetization, demonstrated by VSM and saturation magnetization, was found to be 1.77 emu/g. An efficient method was used for the synthesis of arylidene barbituric acid derivatives using CoFe 2 O 4 magnetic nanoparticles as a magnetically separable and reusable catalyst in aqueous ethanol. The attractive features of this synthetic protocol were very short reaction time, high yields, high turnover frequency, simple work-up procedure, economy, a clean reaction methodology, and chemoselectivity, as well as provision of an ecofriendly and green synthesis. An efficient protocol for the “click” synthesis of arylidene barbituric acid derivatives using a heterogeneous magnetically separable CoFe 2 O 4 nanocatalyst is presented. The synthesis is simple, clean, and eco-friendly.