Trans‐metallated chlorophyllin by copper supported on silica‐coated magnetic nanoparticles as an efficient and green catalyst for the synthesis of furan‐2(5H)‐ones

Abstract

In recent years, an unprecedented increase in environmental pollution as a result of the rapid industrialization of the world has attracted a lot of attention to green chemistry. Chlorophyllin copper complex (Chln‐Cu) is one of the most vital compounds derived from natural chlorophyll that can be used as an environmental, sustainable, and green catalyst in industrial processes. In the current paper, chlorophyll was first extracted from spinach leaves, hydrolyzed, and trans‐metallated to chlorophyllin copper (II) complex. The fixation of Chln‐Cu on functionalized magnetic nanoparticles was performed using a green mechanical method. This mechanical solvent‐free reaction was done in a planetary ball mill with 60 zirconia balls (diameter = 3 mm) and the rotation speed 200 rpm at 12 h. In conclusion, an efficient and reusable Fe3O4@SiO2‐NH2‐Chln‐Cu catalyst was obtained. To characterize the synthesized catalyst, several analytical techniques were used such as UV–Vis, FT‐IR, 1H‐NMR, and 13C‐NMR spectra as well as TG, ICP‐OES, XRD, FE‐SEM, elemental mapping, VSM, and XPS analyses. The conducted analyses showed that the catalyst was successfully synthesized. The efficiency of the catalyst was checked in the preparation of 3,4,5‐trisubstituted furan‐2(5H)‐one derivatives at room temperature in propylene carbonate as a green solvent. Moreover, the effect of time, temperature, and solvent on the reaction yield was thoroughly investigated. Excellent performance at mild, environmentally friendly, and nontoxic conditions showed that Fe3O4@Si‐Chln‐Cu not only is an excellent catalyst for this process but also it can be an outstanding catalyst for other catalytic reactions.