A new composite,
cucurbit[6]uril (CB[6])-supported magnetic nanoparticles,
Fe
3
O
4
–CB[6], was synthesized via a co-precipitation
method in air and fully characterized by Fourier transform infrared
spectroscopy, powder X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy,
field-emission scanning electron microscopy, high-resolution transmission
electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, thermogravimetric
analysis, inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry, and
vibrating sample magnetometry techniques. It has been found to be
a highly efficient, economic, and sustainable heterogeneous catalyst
and has been employed for the first time for the synthesis of a series
of biologically important 2-substituted benzimidazoles from various
benzyl alcohols and 1,2-diaminobenzenes under solvent-free conditions
via acceptorless dehydrogenative coupling to afford the corresponding
products in good to excellent yields (68–94%). The magnetic
nature of the nanocomposite facilitates the facile recovery of the
catalyst from the reaction mixture by an external magnet. The catalyst
can be reused up to five times with negligible loss in its catalytic
activity. All the isolated products were characterized by
1
H and
13
C{
1
H} NMR spectroscopy.