Hydration of alkynes to ketones using cobalt ferrite magnetic nanocatalyst encrusted with gold nanoparticles

Abstract

A magnetically recoverable gold nanocatalyst supported on the surface of cobalt ferrite nanoparticle has been synthesized. Initially, CoFe2O4 magnetic core was prepared by ultrasound assisted co-precipitation method which was further surface functionalized using 3-mercaptopropyltriethoxysilane. By a precipitation process, highly dispersed Au nanoparticles were loaded on the surface of the thiol-functionalized magnetic core. Au (0) magnetic nanocomposite thus synthesized was used as catalyst for hydration of alkynes. The nanocomposite showed excellent catalytic activity for hydration both the alkyl and aryl alkynes in presence of 2 wt% of the material to generate corresponding ketones under microwave irradiation. The new catalyst could be easily recovered using an external magnet and could be reused without significant change in its activity.