Fe(OH)3 nano solid material: An efficient catalyst for regioselective ring opening of aryloxy epoxide with amines under solvent free condition

Abstract

Iron hydroxide-Fe(OH)3 and iron oxides (Fe3O4 and Fe2O3) were successfully prepared and characterized. These materials were employed as efficient and environmentally benign heterogeneous catalysts for the epoxide ring opening reaction of various aryloxy, terminal and meso epoxides with aromatic and aliphatic amines under solvent free condition at room temperature. Out of these, nano-sized Fe(OH)3 (IH-1) showed better catalytic activity to give the product β-amino alcohols in excellent yield (up to ∼96%) and high regioselectivity in 10–360min. The catalyst was successfully recycled and reused eight times with no loss in catalytic activity.