Magnetically Recoverable Magnetite-Montmorillonite (Nanocat-Fe-Si-K10) Nanocatalyst Applicable for the Synthesis of Nitriles

Abstract

Montmorillonite magnetic nanoparticles (Fe3O4@SiO2@K10) have been used as green, efficient heterogeneous catalysts for the synthesis of nitrile analogs. The reaction was performed between the prepared nanocatalyst, aldehyde, and NH2OH.HCl in ethanol at 80°C. In this work, we studied aldehydes, electron-donating, electron-withdrawing, bicyclic, and heteroaromatic compounds. The current approach has many advantages: a clean, faster rate, moderate to excellent yield, an easily workable reaction, and a recyclable nanocatalyst. The prepared nanoparticles have been recyclable and re-utilizable for 6 cycles without losing their catalytic capabilities. The magnetic nanoparticles have been studied using various analytical techniques, including powder XRD, FE-SEM, EDX, WDX, TEM (morphological study), FT-IR (functional groups), ICP-OES (elemental composition), and TGA (Thermal stability). The MMT (K10) supported magnetic nanocatalysts were characterized by techniques such as powder XRD, ICP-OES, FT-IR, FE-SEM, TEM, and FE-SEM techniques. The crystallographic study of MMT-supported silica-coating ferrite nanoparticles was analyzed using XRD techniques. (Figure 1) The iron oxide nanocatalyst was analyzed by using a PXRD pattern performed in 10-80 °. The ferrite nanocatalyst was coated with TEOS (tetraethyl orthosilicate). The resulting nanoparticles do not change crystalline structure. The nanocrystal size was calculated to be 19 nm using the Scherrer formula with a larger peak of powder XRD analysis (26.8). The peak is not visible in PXRD spectra due to the lower concentration of K10 which is about 7.23