Nanocomposite γ-ferric oxide (γ-Fe2O3) mediated, green, solvent free, one pot synthesis of naturally occurring acetate esters

Abstract

Nanocomposite ferric oxide, γ-Fe2O3 has been synthesized using different structure directing agents by sol-gel method. The synthesized γ-Fe2O3 has been characterized by XRD and FT-IR. Using this nano-ferric oxide catalyst, different naturally occurring acetate esters have been synthesized and analyzed using spectroscopic methods. The catalytic activity of the catalyst has been investigated for the green, solvent free, one pot synthesis of naturally occurring acetate esters. It is observed that the γ-Fe2O3, synthesized by using urea as structure directing agent shows the highest percent conversion of acetic acid as compared to those synthesized via other methods.