Iron oxide encapsulated by copper-Apatite: An efficient magnetic nanocatalyst for: N-Arylation of imidazole with boronic acid

Abstract

N-Arylation of imidazole was carried out with various arylboronic acids on iron oxide encapsulated by copper-Apatite (Fe3O4@Cu-Apatite), producing excellent yields. Firstly, the iron nanoparticles were prepared using a solvothermal method, and then they were encapsulated by copper-Apatite to obtain magnetic Fe3O4@Cu-Apatite nanocatalysts. Several physico-chemical analysis techniques were used to characterize the prepared nanostructured Fe3O4@Cu-Apatite catalyst. The prepared Fe3O4@Cu-Apatite was used as a nanocatalyst for N-Arylation of imidazole with a series of arylboronic acids with different substituents to reaffirm the effectiveness of this magnetic nanocatalyst. The Fe3O4@Cu-Apatite nanocatalyst can also be easily separated from the reaction mixture using an external magnet. More importantly, the as-prepared Fe3O4@Cu-Apatite exhibited good reusability and stability properties in successive cycles. However, there was a notable loss of its catalytic activity after multiple cycles.