Synthesis and Characterization of CuFe2O4@Xanthan gum@SO3H Nanoparticles: A New Heterogeneous Magnetically Separable Catalyst for the One-Pot Solvent-Free Synthesis of Imidazoles

Sulfated xanthan gum-coated CuFe2O4 nanoparticles (CuFe2O4@xanthan gum@SO3H) have been synthesized by the co-precipitation method and characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), thermogravimetric/differential thermal analysis (TG/DTA), and vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM). The synthesized catalyst provides an eco-friendly path for the preparation of trisubstituted imidazoles via a one-pot multicomponent reaction of benzil, ammonium acetate, and aromatic aldehydes under solvent-free conditions. The important features of this transformation are the use of a green heterogeneous acid catalyst, shorter reaction time, and high purity of the products isolated in excellent yields without column chromatography. The catalyst could be easily recovered and reused for five runs without significant loss of activity.