Magnetically nano core–shell Fe3O4@Cu(OH)x: a highly efficient and reusable catalyst for rapid and green reduction of nitro compounds

• Published in: Journal of the Iranian Chemical Society Vol. 14; no. 1; pp. 101 - 109
• Main Authors: Shokri, Zahra, Zeynizadeh, Behzad, Hosseini, Seyed Ali, Azizi, Behrooz
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 2017; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Analytical Chemistry; Biochemistry; Catalysts; Catalytic activity; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Inorganic Chemistry; Organic Chemistry; Original Paper; Physical Chemistry; Scanning electron microscopy; X-ray diffraction; Reduction; Amine; Nanomagnetic; Nitro; @Cu(OH); NaBH; Fe; O
• ISSN: 1735-207X; 1735-2428
• DOI: 10.1007/s13738-016-0962-3

Magnetically separable nano core–shell Fe 3 O 4 @Cu(OH) x with 22 % Cu content was prepared by the addition of sodium hydroxide to a mixture of CuCl 2 ·2H 2 O and nano Fe 3 O 4 in water. Characterization of the impregnated copper hydroxide was carried out by X-ray fluorescence (XRF), X-ray diffraction (XRD) atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), value stream mapping (VSM) and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) analysis. The core–shell nanocatalyst exhibited the excellent catalytic activity toward reduction of various nitro compounds to the corresponding amines with NaBH 4 . All reactions were carried out in H 2 O (55–60 °C) within 3–15 min to afford amines in high to excellent yields. Reusability of core–shell Cu(OH) x catalyst was examined 9 times without significant loss of its catalytic activity.