TiO2/porous carbon as a new nanocomposite and catalyst for the preparation of 4H-pyrimido[2,1-b]benzimidazoles

Abstract

A nano TiO₂/porous carbon nanocomposite (TiO₂/PCN) was designed by the pyrolysis of peanut shells as bio waste with nano titanium dioxide. In the presented nanocomposite, titanium dioxide is properly placed in the positions and pores of the porous carbon, so that it acts as an optimal catalyst in the nanocomposite structure. The structure of TiO₂/PCN was studied by various analyses such as Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), energy-dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDX), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), SEM coupled EDX (SEM mapping), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and BET. TiO₂/PCN was successfully tested as a nano catalyst for the preparation of some 4H-pyrimido[2,1-b]benzimidazoles in high yields (90–97%) and short reaction times (45–80 min).