Sustainable green synthesis of magnetically recoverable cobalt ferrite nanoparticles for the facile synthesis of nitroarenes and phenols

Arylboronic acids can be converted to useful industrial and pharmaceutical molecular scaffolds like nitroaromatics and phenols. Nitroarenes are tremendously valuable organic compounds with an extensive history of existence in pharmaceuticals, explosives and as well as agrochemicals, indispensable intermediates to a wide range of chemicals. For this purpose, a ferromagnetic nanomaterial, CoFe2O4 is designed using different parts of Dillenia indica fruit extract. As synthesized nanoparticles (NPs) are employed for the very first time as an active catalyst for the facile ipso-nitration as well as ipso-hydroxylation of arylboronic acids for the cheaper, chemoselective and efficient access of nitroarenes and phenols respectively and the catalytic system is highly sustainable for a great number of substrates with a high yield of product. The physio-chemical characteristics of the catalysts were established by FE-SEM, EDAX, Elemental mapping, PXRD, TEM, XPS,VSM.The catalyst is wellrecoverable and reusable up-to five catalytic cycles without significant loss of its activity.