Preparation and characterization of functionalized nickel ferrite nanoparticles with thioether used as a solid acid nanocatalyst for the synthesis of 2-aryl benzimidazoles

There is a significant amount of research being conducted in the field of nitrogen-containing heterocycles due to their diverse applications in different industries. Benzimidazole is one of the heterocyclic compounds formed by connecting the benzene and imidazole rings and shows diverse biological activities. Benzimidazole is also an essential compound in agriculture and industry. In this research, the NiFe2O4@SiO2-Pr-S-nBu-SO3H nanocomposite was prepared and used as a heterogeneous catalyst for synthesizing the 2-aryl benzimidazole derivatives. This protocol involved the reaction between orthophenylene diamine and aromatic aldehydes, with iodine as an oxidizing agent. The prepared catalyst was thoroughly examined using various methods, including infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM), and energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy. This protocol offers several advantages such as a short reaction time at room temperature, simple workup, high product yields, simple purification, availability of raw materials, and a catalyst that is both reusable and environmentally friendly. Finally, to characterize the organic compounds, the melting point, FT-IR, and 1H NMR analyses were utilized. In this research, the nanocomposite was prepared and used as a heterogeneous catalyst for the synthesis of 2-aryl benzimidazoles.