Development of a low-cost, environmentally
benign and robust catalyst
for multipurpose industrially relevant organic transformations is
highly desirable for the sustainable future of chemical industries.
A hybrid cobalt doped-cerium oxide nanocatalyst (Co@CeO2NC) was prepared via simple coprecipitation method using water as
the solvent. The characterization of Co@CeO2NC was performed
using different techniques such as XRD, TGA, FE-SEM, HR-TEM, EDAX-mapping,
BET, and XPS analysis. The structural characterization of the prepared
sample by XRD and XPS analysis revealed the presence of the mixed
phase of cobalt oxide and cobalt doped-cerium oxide as a hybrid (Co@CeO2NC). Industrially relevant organic transformations such as
(i) nitrile formation using aldehyde with hydroxylamine hydrochloride,
(ii) reductive amination of aldehydes to form tertiary N,N-dimethyl amines, and (iii) direct acetylation
of alcohols/amines with acetic acid were achieved in an excellent
manner using Co@CeO2NC hybrid as the multifunctional catalyst.
Excellent catalytic activity of Co@CeO2NC was noticed for
the conversion of 4-chlorobenzaldehyde to 4-chlorobenzonitrile with
99% conversion and 99% selectivity and 100% conversion of benzaldehyde
to N,N-dimethylbenzylamine using
DMF as NMe2 source, reductant, and solvent. Moreover, acetylation
of 4-methoxybenzyl alcohol and 2-methyl aniline gave excellent conversion
and selectivity toward the formation of −O and −N acetyl.
The scope of the Co@CeO2NC was further evaluated for other
aldehydes, alcohols, and amines with an excellent conversion and high
selectivity.