Application of Magnetic Fe3O4 Nanoparticles in the Synthesis of β-Lactams Containing Amino Group

β-Lactam antibiotics are the most important antibacterial agents for human health and it began with the discovery of penicillin by Alexander Fleming in 1928. In addition, β-lactams are an important class of heterocyclic compounds due to their wide range applications in other biological activities [1]. With the alarming trends in bacterial resistance to many β-lactam antibiotics it has become necessary to synthesize some novel β-lactams for bioassay of antibacterial activity and the need for drugs with more specific antibacterial activity. Therefore, the synthesis of the new β-lactams is the subject of extensive study. The reduction of nitroarenes to aromatic amines is an important step in the production of agrochemicals, pharmaceuticals and dyes. Therefore, various methods have been developed to reduce the nitro group [2]. On the other hand, the existing methods for the preparation of β-lactams containing the amine group are very difficult and take place in several steps. In this project, green method using ethanol solvent and Fe3O4 catalyst has been reported to reduction of nitro group on β-lactams (Scheme 1). In this reaction iron oxide is responsible for the electron transfer and ethanol acting as proton source. The catalyst can be used several times without decrease in catalytic activity. The chemical structure of products was identified using spectral data