Novel neodymium complex on MCM‐41 magnetic nanocomposite as a practical, selective, and returnable nanocatalyst in the synthesis of tetrazoles with antifungal properties in agricultural

Abstract

This project reports a simple procedure for the synthesis and characterization of neodymium on MCM‐41 magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) as a reusable nanocatalyst. First, magnetite (Fe3O4) MNPs were prepared by chemical co‐precipitation procedure from FeCl3 hexahydrate and FeCl2 tetrahydrate in basic NH3 solution. At the second step, MCM‐41 magnetic nanocomposite (MCM‐41 MNC) was prepared by Fe3O4 doping into mesoporous MCM‐41 channels. At the third step, a novel neodymium Schiff base complex was immobilized on MCM‐41 MNC. At the fourth step, this catalyst (Nd‐LArg‐5BrSalen@MNC) was used as practicable and magnetically recoverable nanocatalyst in the homoselective synthesis of tetrazoles. This nanocatalyst was characterized via several analysis, for example, TGA, TEM, UV, SEM, FT‐IR, SEM‐EDS, VSM, ICP, XRD, WDX, and BET. All tetrazole products were synthesized with high yield in a short time. Despite high catalytic activity of neodymium, it has rarely used as a catalyst in the synthesis of organic compounds. All synthesized organic compounds were identified by 1H NMR, FT‐IR, and physical properties. Nd‐LArg‐5BrSalen@MNC nanocatalyst displays high activity, good selectivity, stability, and more important facile magnetic separation. Nd‐LArg‐5BrSalen@MNC nanocatalyst can be isolated and used again for several times consecutively without considerable loss of its catalytic activity. The recycled catalyst was characterized by SEM, EDS, WDX, XRD, and FT‐IR techniques and showed a good match with the fresh catalyst. Also, the antifungal activity of the some tetrazole derivatives was studied against Fusarium oxysporum (rot disease of chickpea root) and Botrytis cinerea (gray mold of strawberry) using the paper disk method on PDA culture medium.