Superparamagnetic nanoparticles as a recyclable catalyst: a new access to phenol esters via cross dehydrogenative coupling reactions

Abstract

CuFe₂O₄ superparamagnetic nanoparticles were utilized as a recyclable heterogeneous catalyst for the direct synthesis of chemical structures containing both phenol ester and benzothiazole moieties via cross dehydrogenative coupling reactions. Several substrates were reactive towards the transformation in the presence of the nano catalyst, including benzaldehyde, benzyl alcohol, dibenzyl ether, 2-oxo-2-phenylacetaldehyde, and 2-iodo-1-phenylethanone. This nano catalyst displayed higher catalytic efficiency than many homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts. The nano CuFe₂O₄ was easily isolated by using a magnet, and reutilize numerous times without a remarkable deterioration in catalytic performance. To our best knowledge, these reactions were not previously reported in the literature.