Copper ferrite nanoparticles: An effective and recoverable nanomagnetic catalyst for the synthesis of N, N',N'-trisubstituted guanidines from the addition reaction of anilines to carbodiimide

Abstract

In this study, copper ferrite (CuFe2O4) nanoparticles were successfully prepared and employed as an efficient catalyst for the synthesis of guanidine derivatives through the addition of anilines to N, N-dicyclohexylcarcodiimide under solvent-free conditions. This magnetically retrievable catalyst was well characterised by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray powder diffraction, transmission electron microscopy and field emission scanning electron microscope-energy dispersive X-ray techniques. The catalyst can be readily recovered from the reaction mixture by the use of an external magnet and reused several times without remarkable loss of its catalytic activity.