Magnetically recoverable nano Pd/Fe3O4/ZnO catalyst: preparation, characterization, and application for the synthesis of 2-oxazolines and benzoxazoles

A novel palladium-based catalysts supported on Fe3O4/ZnO nanoparticles have been prepared by a simple method. The catalyst was characterized by transmission electron microscopy, X-ray powder diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, atomic absorption spectrophotometry, FT-IR, and BET analysis. The catalyst afforded efficient synthesis of 2-oxazolines and benzoxazoles from aromatic nitriles under solvent-free conditions. The significant features of this method are short reaction times, good to high yields of the products, simple operation, solvent-free condition, non-toxicity, reusability of the catalyst without significant loss of catalytic activity, and using ultra small amount of Pd (0.004 g of catalyst contains 9.16 × 10−3 mmol Pd which was determined by ICP).