Fe3O4@SiO2/Schiff base complex of Co(II) as an efficient Lewis acid nanocatalyst for acetylation of alcohols and phenols under solvent-free conditions

Abstract

Fe3O4@SiO2/Schiff base complex of Co (II) nanocatalyst was used as a novel, efficient catalyst for acetylation of alcohols and phenols with acetic anhydride in high yields under solvent-free conditions. Various primary, secondary and tertiary alcohols were acetylated under solvent-free conditions in the presence of catalytic amount of the nanocatalyst at room temperature. Also, Fe3O4@SiO2/Schiff base/Co (II) can catalyze the acetylation of various alcohols by the reaction of alcohols with ethyl acetate under reflux conditions. The nanocatalyst can be simply recovered by a magnetic field and reused over 5 times without any significant loss of its catalytic activity.