Ni-Fe2O3@SiO2-Pr-DBU: A novel efficient magnetically retrievable catalyst for one-pot synthesis of dihydropyrano [3,2-c] chromene

Abstract

In the present work, Ni-Fe₂O₃@SiO₂-Pr-DBU was synthesized as a novel magnetically separable nano-catalyst and characterized by various techniques like Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Vibrating-sample magnetometry (VSM), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and Elemental analysis by energy dispersive X-ray (EDX). The catalytic efficiency of NiFe₂O₃@SiO₂-Pr-DBU was explored in the synthesis of dihydropyrano[3,2-c] chromenes through a one-pot multicomponent reaction of 4-hydroxycoumarin, malononitrile, and aryl aldehydes in aqueous solution at ambient temperature condition. An external magnet easily removed the nano-sized magnetic core catalyst from the synthesized reaction mixture. It was recycled for five successive runs while maintaining its potential and adhering to our green synthesis approach. We used dihydropyrano chromene, a highly biologically active commercial compound, to prepare some novel derivatives.