Functionalization of chitosan to prepare an appropriate catalyst andinvestigation of its catalytic properties

Every year around the world, a vast amount of organic waste is produced from aromaticnitrocompounds and their derivatives due to their wide application in the production ofpesticides,herbicides, insecticides, and synthetic dyes. They have a huge adverse effect ontheenvironment due to their difficult degradation process. In the same direction, developingheterogeneous catalysts using chitosan (CS) and magnetic (Fe۳O۴) as supports has attractedenormous interest due to their availability, low cost, and non-toxicity[۱-۳].In this work, a heterogeneous catalyst was fabricated as a result of facile modification ofNH۲ groups of the chitosan on the Fe۳O۴/CS surface and subsequent metalation of the obtainedNS donors. The prepared catalyst was characterized using Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR)spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), X-rayDiffraction (XRD), vibrating samplemagnetometer (VSM), CHN elemental analysis, inductively coupled plasma optical emissionspectroscopy (ICP/OES), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), and energydispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). The performance of the synthesized catalyst on thereduction of various nitroarene compounds to corresponding amino arenes was evaluated atambient conditions. UV–vis absorption spectra were recorded in different intervals to monitorthe reactionchanges at room temperature. The reduction of ۴-nitrophenol in optimized reactionconditions reached ۹۱% conversion. The catalyst was easily separated by an external magnet andthe recovered catalyst was reused without significant loss of catalytic activity[۴].

Keywords:

chitosan , magnetic nanoparticles , catalyst , reduction ofnitroarene