Phytochemical assisted engineering of silver nanoparticles on hexagonal boron nitride: An efficient nanocatalyst for amidation and reduction reactions in aqueous medium

Abstract

Of the various intermediates studied in organic chemistry, the versatility of amides has been widely seen in pharmaceuticals. However, sustainable and simple hydration of nitriles to selectively yield amides is challenging. Thus, in our efforts to explore green methodologies in synthesizing amides, we developed a new and efficient nanocatalyst: biogenically synthesized silver nanoparticles supported on phytochemicals functionalized hexagonal boron nitride (h-BNCLE@AgNPs). The characterization of the h-BNCLE@AgNPs nanocatalyst confirmed the successful formation and immobilization of the silver nanoparticles on the support, which was surveyed for the amidation of nitriles in a base-free aqueous medium by selective hydrolysis. The aryl amides were obtained in good to excellent yields. Furthermore, the h-BNCLE@AgNPs nanocatalyst was successfully extended to the reduction of various mono and di-nitroarenes, where the h-BNCLE@AgNPs nanocatalyst showed very good performance. The heterogeneous nature of the nanocatalyst makes it easily recoverable from the reaction mass by simple filtration or centrifugation. The recycled nanocatalyst retained excellent catalytic activity even up to several recycles, demonstrating possible industrial applicability. The synthesis and applications of the h-BNCLE@AgNPs nanocatalyst are economical and facile, producing non-toxic by-products adhering to green chemistry protocol.