Magnetite dopamine‐decorated copper (Fe₃O₄@PDA/CuCl₂): A robust and reusable catalyst for promoting green synthesis of benzimidazoles and benzothiazoles

Abstract

A one‐pot and efficient catalytic protocol has been developed to synthesize pharmaceutically critical 2‐substituted benzimidazoles and benzothiazoles using magnetite dopamine‐supported copper nanoparticles (Fe3O4@PDA/CuCl2) as a heterogeneous catalyst. This selective transformation proceeds via oxidative cross‐coupling of readily available benzylic amines with o‐phenylenediamine/2‐aminothiophenol. This one‐pot green method proceeds smoothly, under mild conditions, avoids the usage of toxic metals, tolerates a variety of functionalities, and is amenable to gram scale. Furthermore, this easy‐to‐prepare magnetic nanocatalyst can be separated by magnetic decantation after the reaction, thereby making it more sustainable.