Magnetically recoverable CuFe2O4 nanocatalyst: Dual catalytic action in sonogashira and Chan-Lam coupling reactions

Abstract

Magnetically retrievable CuFe2O4 nanocatalyst has been synthesized for Sonogashira (C-C) and Chan-Lam (C-N) coupling reactions by a facile co-precipitation method. Synthesized nanocatalyst was characterized by powder x-ray diffraction (PXRD), fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), selected area electron diffraction (SAED), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) analysis. The catalytic action of the catalyst was evaluated for both Pd-free C-C coupling and base-free C-N coupling reactions where an excellent product yield up to 96 % and 95 % respectively was obtained. The uniqueness of the catalyst was its effective performance under ambient reaction conditions in green solvents such as EtOH and EtOH:H2O (1:1) with a broad substrate scope. The catalyst can be easily retrieved from the reaction mixture with the aid of an external magnet and reused at least five times without significant loss in catalytic activity. The structural stability of the recovered catalyst was confirmed by XRD, FTIR, SEM and ICP-OES (Inductively coupled plasma - optical emission spectrometry) analysis. Thus, the synthesized catalyst works excellently well for dual applications and establishes the sustainable application of the catalyst.