An efficient base and H₂O₂ free protocol for the synthesis of phenols in water and oxygen using spinel CuFe₂O₄ magnetic nanoparticles

Abstract

An efficient base and H₂O₂ free protocol was used for the synthesis of phenols from boronic acids using biogenic CuFe₂O₄ magnetic nanoparticles as catalyst at room temperature in water and oxygen. The catalyst was prepared using the flowers of Lantana camara. The size of the nanoparticles was 4.27 nm. Base free and ligand free protocol, less time, excellent yields, room temperature, biogenic synthesis of the catalyst, use of O₂ as an environmentally friendly oxidant are the advantages of the present protocol. The recyclability of the catalyst was for 5 cycles without loss of magnetic property or catalytic activity.

Keywords:

• Arylboronic acids
• magnetic nanocatalayst
• heterogeneous catalysis
• easy recyclability
• green synthesis

Acknowledgement

The authors gratefully acknowledge DST-SERB (Project No. SB/FT/CS-161/2012) for financial assistance, UGC-SAP, CSIC Dibrugarh University for SEM-EDX, XRD analysis, IIT Guwahati for VSM analysis and SAIF, NEHU Shillong for spectral data.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.