Synthesis of copper catalysts for click chemistry from distillery wastewater using magnetically recoverable bionanoparticles

Abstract

Copper recovered from a whisky distillery waste stream is shown to be an effective catalyst for a range of azide–alkyne “click” reactions. Biogenic nanomagnetite (BNM), produced under mild conditions, was used to rapidly recover and subsequently support the Cu catalyst which could be separated and recycled easily.