Magnetic nanoparticles coated with a chitosan anchored Schiff base complex of nickel(II) as an effective, reusable catalyst for one-pot synthesis of spirolactones

A simple, highly versatile and efficient synthesis of spirolactones is achieved through the three components, one-pot reaction of 5-chloroisatin, different primary amines, and dimethyl acetylenedicarboxylate, using Fe3O4@CS-Schiff base Ni as a highly efficient heterogeneous catalyst. The catalyst can be recovered for subsequent reactions and reused for at least five rounds without any appreciable loss of activity. The core-shell structure and the composition of the magnetic nanocatalyst were characterized by physical and spectroscopic techniques.