Copper immobilized on aminated ferrite nanoparticles by 2‐aminoethyl dihydrogen phosphate (Fe3O4@AEPH2‐CuII) catalyses the conversion of aldoximes to nitriles

Cu^II immobilized on aminated ferrite nanoparticles by 2‐aminoethyl dihydrogen phosphate (Fe₃O₄@AEPH₂‐Cu^II) was prepared and characterized using FT‐IR, TGA, TEM, EDX, VSM, XRD, CHN and ICP techniques. The easily prepared heterogeneous nanocatalyst demonstrated a significant catalytic performance for the transformation of aldoximes to nitriles that is far superior to previously reported methods. The reaction allows for the conversion of a wide variety of aldoximes including aromatic, aliphatic and heterocyclic aldoximes in good to excellent yields (50–98%). High efficiency, mild reaction conditions, easy work‐up, operational simplicity, simple purification of products and safe handling of the catalyst are important advantages of this method. In addition, the environmentally benign heterogeneous nanocatalyst can be easily recovered from reaction mixtures using an external magnet and reused several times without any loss of activity. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.