Iranian researchers succeeded in the production of a new nanocatalyst which eliminates the need for application of organic solvents in the synthesis of organic compounds.
The nanocatalyst is made of cheap materials and speeds up the reaction rate, taking into consideration its high performance.
Ionic liquids are known as appropriate homogenous catalysts due to their unique physical properties, including negligible vapor pressure, high ionic conductivity and perfect solubility. Despite all advantages of these materials, there are some problems in their application. For instance, they are all honey-like despite the high viscosity of ionic liquids. High amount of ionic liquids are used in organic reactions, and therefore, their application is not cost-effective. In addition, the recycling of ionic liquids is time consuming and results in the waste of some of the liquid. Environmental pollution is a cause of the separation of ionic liquids from the reaction media.
This group of ionic liquids was stabilized on magnetic nanoparticles in this research to overcome the abovementioned problems. This method results in the reduction in the consumption of the liquid in addition to increasing the activity and selectivity of the liquids in organic reactions. Ionic liquids stabilized on magnetic nanoparticles act as non-homogenous catalysts in organic reactions. The catalyst is easily separated from the reaction media by using a magnet.
The achievement can be used as solvent and catalyst in reactions to produce organic and biochemical materials or in the extraction of specific compounds synthesized with the reaction mixture by creating a bond with the compound.
Results of the research have been published in Journal of Molecular Liquids, vol. 202, issue 1, 2015, pp. 46-51.