Reusable SiO₂@NiO core-shell nanoparticles catalyzed efficient synthesis of 14-aryl-14H-dibenzo[a,i]xanthene-8, 13-dione derivatives

Abstract

Multicomponent condensation reaction of substituted aromatic aldehydes with 2-naphthol/2,7-dihydroxynaphthalene and 2-hydroxynaphthalene-1,4-dione was catalyzed by nickel oxide supported on silica core-shell nanoparticles (SiO₂@NiO) as Lewis acid catalyst in the ethanolic medium at 80 °C. The present catalytic protocol was used to synthesize diverse 14-Aryl-14H-dibenzo[a,i]xanthene-8,13-diones in good yields with a high turnover number within a short reaction time leading to good reusability with almost unchanged catalytic activity. The synthesized compounds were screened for in vitro antimicrobial activity and found to exhibit promising antibacterial and antifungal activities.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords:

• Antimicrobial
• core-shell nanoparticles
• multicomponent condensation
• nickel oxide supported on silica
• turnover number

Data availability

Supplementary material contains full experimental details with the characterization data and copies of FTIR, ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, and Mass spectra can be accessed from the article’s webpage.