Copper oxide nanoparticles catalyzed efficient synthesis of quinolines, pyridines, and pyrroles via alcohol dehydrogenative coupling strategy are reported. Employing this catalytic system, various functionalized quinolines, pyridines, and pyrroles were synthesized efficiently from different amino alcohols with a diverse range of ketones. A number of control experiments were performed to shed light on the mechanism. This catalyst was recycled up to 6th run and notably, no significant loss was observed in its catalytic activity.

An efficient green method was used for the synthesis of polyphenol capped iron oxide nanoparticles (ION) from an agro waste, peanut skin. The polyphenol capped ION was characterized by Fourier transformed infra-red (FTIR), Powder XRD and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic (XPS) analysis. To evaluate the catalytic activities of ION, ring opening of epoxides by aromatic amines has been performed and the catalyst showed good activity with yields up to 90% of the major products using only 20 mg of the catalyst under solvent free neat condition at room temperature (28 degrees C) after 5 h. These nanoparticles can be reused for three times without significant loss in their activities.

This work deals with the synthesis of biomolecule-based monometallic Ag and Pd and bimetallic Ag–Pd nanocomposites and their catalytic activity towards etherification reaction.

Levulinic acid (LA), a lignocellulosic biomass-derived compound has been recognized as one of the versatile building blocks for the synthesis of commodity chemicals having biofuel properties together with potential as precursor for the synthesis of several value-added pharmaceuticals and polymers. Herein, we report the synthesis of catalytically active functionalized porous organic polymer and its utilization as heterogeneous organocatalyst for the synthesis of EL from LA in very high yield. Here, sulfonic acid functionalized porous organic polymer SBZ@POP have been prepared via simple Friedel-Crafts alkylation of benzene with dimethoxymethane followed by sulfonation of the aromatic rings. The structure and properties of the material was examined through PXRD, N-2 sorption, HR TEM, C-13 CP-MAS NMR, NH3-TPD, TG-DTA and FTIR analysis. Our characterization data suggested nanoscale porosity with high surface acidity in SBZ@POP. The effects of reaction time, catalyst loading, molar ratio of levulinic acid to ethanol and reaction temperature were studied thoroughly to optimize the catalytic activity of SBZ@POP. Under optimized reaction conditions EL yield of 88 % has been achieved with 1:15 molar ratio of LA to ethanol under refluxing conditions in 10 h. This porous organic polymer based organocatalyst displayed good recyclability for consecutive five reaction cycles suggesting the sustainable application potential of this acidic organocatalyst.

A mild and sustainable synthetic route was followed for the generation of biomolecule-assisted Ru nanocatalyst under open as well as inert atmosphere using the polyphenol morin. The nanocatalyst was characterized thoroughly by powder X-ray diffraction, N2 adsorption-desorption, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, dynamic light scattering, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, absorption spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, and inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry. The nanocatalyst reveals excellent catalytic activity for the reduction of several substituted nitrobenzene to aniline derivatives under simple, mild, and environment-friendly conditions. The catalyst can be reused for four consecutive cycles without significant loss in its catalytic activity.

Designing novel catalytic system for efficient synthesis of enantiomerically pure beta-hydroxy nitroalkanes is a challenging area of research. Herein, we have designed a chiral heterogeneous catalyst through the successful loading of chiral Cr(III)-salen complex over sulfonic acid functionalized SBA-15 material. The catalyst has been thoroughly characterized by powder XRD, N-2 adsorption/desorption, XPS, HR-TEM, CHN, AAS analyses and FT-IR spectroscopy. The reactivity of the catalyst has been examined in the enantioselective Henry reaction, where different substituted aromatic, heteroaromatic as well as aliphatic aldehydes produced corresponding beta-hydroxy nitroalkanes with excellent product yields (up to 90%) and enantioselectivities (up to 91%). Moreover, this protocol has also been employed as the key-step to prepare enantiomerically pure drug (R)-(-)-isoproterenol from 3,4-dimethoxybenzaldehyde.

A mutually correlated green protocol has been devised that originates from a sustainable production of β-Ni(OH)2 nanoparticles which is used for an efficient catalytic synthesis of versatile substituted tetrazoles, under mild reaction conditions in water via a simple, one-pot, eco-friendly method. The synthesis is followed by derivatization into a highly fluorescence active compound 9-(4-(5-(quinolin-2-yl)-1H-tetrazol-1-yl)phenyl)-9H-carbazole that can be used at tracer concentrations (0.1 μM) to detect as well as quantify hydrogen peroxide down to 2 μM concentration. The nanocatalyst was synthesized by a simple, proficient, and cost-effective methodology and characterized thoroughly by UV-vis absorption and Fourier transform infrared spectra, N2 adsorption/desorption, high resolution transmission electron microscopy, powder X-ray diffraction pattern, field emission scanning electron microscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis. Broad substrate scope, easy handling, higher efficiency, low cost, and reusability of the catalyst are some of the important features of this heterogeneous catalytic system. The strong analytical performance of the resultant derivative in low-level quantification of potentially hazardous hydrogen peroxide is the key success of the overall green synthesis procedure reported here.

A new chiral Cu(ii)@AFS-1 catalyzed asymmetric Henry reaction (ee = 94%, yield 96%) and diastereoselective Henry reaction have been reported. Additionally, drug (R)-(−)-isoproterenol was synthesized using this protocol.

We demonstrate here a green and efficient biogenic synthesis of copper(II) oxide nanoparticles using easily available Ocimum Sanctum leaf extract at room temperature. The biogenic copper oxide nanoparticles have shown excellent activity on N-arylation of cyclic and acyclic amides with aryl and styryl halides. Broad substrate scope, excellent functional group tolerance, and high yields were observed. This protocol is also extended for the N-arylation of substituted aryl amines and nitrogen heterocycles including pyrole, indole, imidazole, benzimidazole, and carbazole. The catalyst was characterized by EPR, UV, FT-IR, BET, AAS, TGA analysis, XPS, XRD, and HR-TEM.

Metal oxide nanoparticles (NPs) stabilized by porous carbon materials (PCMs) are very promising for catalysis. In this work, monodispersed small and stable copper oxide (CuO) NPs were prepared with an average size of 10-20 nm without using any capping agent and then these NPs were encapsulated into porous carbon. The chemical and structural properties of the CuO/PCM material were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and nitrogen sorption. The obtained CuO/PCM nanocatalytic system has been used for the synthesis of N-arylamides from the reaction of aldoximes and aryl halides. Generally, copper(II) salt was used for the preparation of amides from aldoximes using some ligands and bases, but harsh reaction condition, stoichiometric amount of metal, and lack of recyclability limit their applications in industry. An alternative method is the use of heterogeneous catalysts. More importantly, these heterogeneous catalysts could be easily recycled and reused, showing potential application in organic synthesis.

A new heterogeneous palladium(ii) catalyst has been developed through a convenient and economic way for the synthesis of allyl-aryl ether.

New mesoporous chiral Co(iii)-catalyst has been synthesed and used in the synthesis of chiral β-amino alcohols with excellent yield and enantioselectivity (ee > 99%) under neat conditions at RT.

A new polymer supported Cu(ii) catalyst has been reported for N-arylation of various amides with aryl halides under neat reaction conditions.

A mesoporous SBA-15 supported chiral Fe(iii)-catalyst was prepared and used for the synthesis of chiral β-amino alcohols with very good yields and enantioselectivities (ee upto 98%) under neat conditions at RT.

Here, polymer grafted vanadium(IV) Schiff base catalyst was prepared and applied in the oxidation of benzylic C-H bonds of alkanes. The solid complex was characterized by some modern techniques i.e. FT-IR, TGA, SEM-EDX and solid state UV-Vis spectroscopy (DRS). This heterogeneous complex showed excellent activity for the oxidation of toluene to benzaldehyde using 30% H2O2 as an oxidantin acetonitrile (ACN) medium at 70oC. This vanadium catalyst was also active for the oxidation of various substituted toluenes. It showed good conversion as well as selectivity for the production of aldehydes from alkanes. The reported catalyst was easily recovered and reused for at least eight times with similar activity.