Nano-CuFe2O4 as a magnetically separable and reusable catalyst for the synthesis of diaryl/aryl alkyl sulfides via cross-coupling process under ligand-free conditions.

An efficient protocol was developed for the CuFe(2)O(4) nanopowder-catalyzed aryl-sulfur bond formation between aryl halide and thiol/disulfide. A variety of aryl sulfides were synthesized in impressive yields with good chemoselectivity and functional group tolerance in the presence of a catalytic amount of CuFe(2)O(4), Cs(2)CO(3) as base, in nitrogen atmosphere, under ligand-free conditions, in DMSO as solvent at 100 °C. The catalyst is air-stable, inexpensive, magnetically separable and recyclable up to four cycles.