A new Cu Schiff base complex with histidine and glutaraldehyde immobilized on modified iron oxide nanoparticles as a recyclable catalyst for the oxidative homocoupling of terminal alkynes

The novel functionalized Fe₃O₄@SiO₂@APTMS@Glu-His@Cu complex was prepared from modification of iron oxide nanomagnet particles with (3-aminopropyl) trimethoxysilane (APTMS) and glutaraldehyde–histidine Schiff base followed by complexation with Cu(I) salt. Characterization of this complex was carried out by means of FTIR, XRD, SEM, TEM and VSM techniques. The complex was found to successfully catalyze the oxidative homocoupling of phenylacetylene, 4-tert-butylphenylacetylene, 1-ethynyl-4-fluorobenzene and pent-1-yn-3-ol with 67–100 % conversions and 95–100 % selectivities. Magnetic recovery and recycling of the catalyst without significant decrease in activity is described in this presentation.