High performance ferrocene immobilized electrodes for the synthesis of 3-acetyl coumarin: A sustainable approach

Abstract An electrocatalyst was developed for the synthesis of 3-acetyl coumarin, a known anticoagulant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-microbial compound, by constructing and employing an electrocatalyst with immobilized ferrocenyl aniline onto electro-polymerized anthranilic acid, on a carbon fiber paper electrode. The effectiveness of the modified carbon fiber paper electrode was assessed by analyzing its physicochemical and electrochemical properties, using optical profilometry, field-emission scanning electron spectroscopy (FE-SEM), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), cyclic voltametric techniques and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) respectively. 3-acetyl coumarin was synthesized using salicylaldehyde and ethyl acetoacetate as starting materials in the presence of piperidine, with lithium perchlorate as supporting electrolyte and ethanol as solvent, at potentiostatic conditions. The reaction was carried out in a three-electrode, single compartment system, at ambient conditions for three hours by using a constant potential of -1.4 V. The product was purified by column chromatography and characterized by using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC–MS) and proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-NMR). The developed electrode was found to be highly efficient towards the synthesis of 3-acetyl coumarin with a good yield of 78 %, thereby proving the efficiency and selectivity of the process.