Fe3O4@Diamine-CuI Nanocomposite: A Novel and Highly Reusable Nanomagnetic Catalyst for Ecofriendly Synthesis of Triaryl Imidazoles

Abstract

Molecules that have an imidazole ring in their structure show different biological effects, the most important of which are antifungal, antibacterial, and medical properties. In this paper, we reported that copper (I) iodide supported on the surface of magnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles modified with 3,4-diaminobenzoic acid [Fe3O4@Diamine-CuI] is a new, recoverable, and highly efficient nanocatalyst for the preparation of 2,4,5-trisubstituted imidazoles through the one-pot three-component reaction of aromatic aldehydes with benzil and ammonium acetate as the nitrogen source at refluxing water. The structure of the as-constructed Fe3O4@Diamine-CuI nanomaterial is well characterized by FT-IR spectroscopy, SEM, EDX, TEM, XRD, VSM, EDX elemental mapping, and ICP-OES techniques. It is worth mentioning that the Fe3O4@Diamine-CuI nanocatalyst was easily separated from the reaction medium using a magnetic magnet and could be reused for 8 times without reducing its catalytic activity. The advantages of this catalytic system include ecofriendly conditions, easy separation of the catalyst, ability to recycle the catalyst, low cost, very short reaction time, water as the solvent, and simple purification of the products.