Carbon nanofiber/taurine-catalyzed synthesis of coumarin and 1,2,4,5-tetra-substituted imidazole derivatives under metal-free conditions

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 14; no. 1; pp. 10677 - 18
• Main Authors: Mallah, Dina, Mirjalili, Bi Bi Fatemeh, Bamoniri, Abdolhamid
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 09.05.2024; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 639/638; 639/638/77; 639/638/77/884; Acidity; Acylation; Amination; Antifungal agents; Carbon; Carbon fibers; Catalysts; Coumarin; Humanities and Social Sciences; Imidazole; multidisciplinary; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Spectroscopy; Taurine
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-61249-2

The main subject of this research is the development of a suitable, efficient, and biocompatible carbon nanofiber-based catalytic system for the synthesis of coumarin and 1,2,4,5-tetra-substituted imidazoles. Brønsted acid carbon nanofiber/taurine catalyst was made during three steps: acid treatment, acylation, and then amination. The basic principles and general advantages of the synthesis method are elaborated. The acidity of the prepared nano-catalyst was investigated using the Hammet acidity technique and UV–Vis spectroscopy, and the H 0 value for 5 × 10 –2 mg/mL of CNF/T in 0.3 mM 4-nitroaniline solution was determined to be 1.47. The structure of the catalyst was successfully characterized using FT-IR, TGA, FESEM, XRD, TEM, EDX, EDS-MAP, BET, and XPS techniques. Here, we report the ability of carbon nanofiber/taurine as a Brønsted acid catalyst for the synthesis of coumarins and 1,2,4,5-tetra-substituted imidazole through a metal-free, cost-effective, and biocompatible multicomponent route. Among the advantages of this protocol are reaction time, excellent efficiency, reusability, and high activity of the catalyst.