l-Tryptophan functionalized silica-coated magnetic nanoparticles were prepared and evaluated as a magnetic nanocatalyst for the synthesis of spiro[indene-2,2′-naphthalene]-4′-carbonitrile derivatives through the one-pot four-component reaction.

In this paper, a novel inorganic‐organic hybrid catalyst based on Fe3O4 has been successfully developed during four simple steps. After construction of Fe3O4@SCH2CO2H, the presence of nickel and urea converts this catalyst into the porous nano magnetic catalyst. The prepared nanocatalyst was identified by FT‐IR, VSM, XRD, FE‐SEM, EDX, elemental mapping, TGA, TEM, and BET. Then, we have employed the prepared catalyst as a recoverable heterogeneous and nanoporous catalyst for synthesis of spiro[indene‐2,2’‐naphthalene]‐4’‐ carbonitrile derivatives via one‐pot telescopic four component reaction of malononitrile, cyclohexanone, aromatic aldehydes, and 1,3‐indandione under ultrasonic irradiation. As anticipated, prepared catalyst displayed significant performance in the promoting of the studied reaction. Eco‐friendly, facile workup, medium to excellent yields in short reaction times, broad range of products, high catalytic performance and reusability of the catalyst are some of the noticeable advantages of this protocol. Further, we can separate and reuse the catalyst six times without any significant loss of activity.