Synthesis of Eu(III) fabricated spinel ferrite based surface modified hybrid nanocomposite: Study of catalytic activity towards the facile synthesis of tetrahydrobenzo[b]pyrans

Abstract

The present work demonstrates a modified protocol for thesynthesis of Europium (Eu) anchored iminodiacetic acid functionalized silica modified core-shell CoFe2O4 magnetic nanoparticles.This is the first report of Eu immobilized nanocomposite in the synthesis of biologically active organic compounds. The structural and physicochemical characteristics of the material wereevaluated using different analytical techniques such asFourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM), Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDX), X-ray Elemental Mapping (WDX) and X-ray Diffraction study (XRD). The Eu(III)/IDA/CPTS/CoFe2O4 nanocomposite was catalytically investigated in the multicomponent green synthesis of diverse substituted tetrahydrobenzo[b]pyrans by coupling dimedone, malononitrile and a wide range of aromatic aldehydes. The magnetically retrievable catalyst was stable enough to be reused up to six consecutive times in the reaction without considerable loss in activity.