Mesoporous ZnCr₂O₄ Nanocatalyst with High Specific Surface Area for Facile Synthesis of Flavonoid Derivatives

Abstract

ZnCr₂O₄ nanoparticles with a high specific surface area have been fabricated using a hydrothermal synthetic process and were used as an effective catalyst to synthesize flavonoid derivatives. The textural and structural properties of the spinel were studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Field Emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM), nitrogen sorption techniques, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). XRD confirmed the formation of cubic Zinc Chromite spinel with a small crystallite size of 5.04 nm. While Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) illustrated the particle size of ∼8, 10, and 16 nm. Textural analysis by N₂ sorption revealed a mesoporous system with a high specific surface of 215 m²/g for ZnCr₂O₄. Moreover, all desired flavonoids were obtained in high yields under solvent-free conditions with the aid of the ZnCr₂O₄ catalyst. Structures of all flavonoid derivatives were confirmed by ¹H-NMR, ¹³C-NMR, FT-IR, and their melting points.

Keywords:

• Spinel
• flavonoid
• mesoporous
• nanoparticle
• ZnCr₂O₄

Author contributions

All authors contributed to the study equally.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).