Wood fiber-iron salicylate/anthranilate composite in sustainable catalytic reduction of 4-nitrophenol

Wood-derived products have the potential to address the challenging goal of preparing specialized and sustainable materials for large scale applications. Wood fibers (WF) are an abundant and renewable material with retained morphology and chemical composition. The present work explores the anchor and chromophore units of the cellulose and lignin fractions in wood fibers to prepare novel sustainable catalysts by immobilization of iron complexes of bio-derivable and biodegradable ligands, salicylic and anthranilic acids, and using microwave heating and greener solvents, Cyrene and tetrahydrofuran. The WF-[Fe(SalAnt)] material showed high catalytic performance in the reduction of 4-nitrophenol to 4-aminophenol by NaBH 4 in water, with k 1 of 0.293 min −1 under visible light (halogen lamp, 100 W) or k 1 of 0.454 min −1 under UV–visible irradiation. This material was reused for at least five cycles, with k 1 of 0.061 ± 0.008 min −1 for catalytic cycles under visible light. No iron leaching is observed in the material by EDS upon the reuse procedures. • Wood fiber-based materials are explored as green catalysts. • Functionality is based on anchor and chromophore units of the lignocellulosic material. • Fully sustainable procedures for 4-nitrophenol pollutant circularity are described. • A green Fe(III) complex-wood fiber hybrid shows high performance and recyclability. • A salicylic wood fiber shows metal-free visible light-assisted activity.