A new neodymium complex on renewable magnetic biochar nanoparticles as an environmentally friendly, recyclable and efficient nanocatalyst in the homoselective synthesis of tetrazoles.

Inexpensive, stable, selective, and recyclable nanocatalysts, waste regeneration, and utilization of safe and available solvents are of interest and important factors in laboratory science and industrial applications of green chemistry. Therefore, herein, biochar nanoparticles (BNPs) were synthesized through chicken manure pyrolysis as a novel method for waste recycling. Then, in order to improve their recyclability, the obtained BNPs were magnetized using magnetic nickel nanoparticles. Then, the surface of the biochar magnetic nanoparticles (BMNPs) was modified by (3-chloropropyl)trimethoxysilane (3-CPTMS) and further a novel neodymium Schiff-base complex was immobilized on the surface of the modified BMNPs, denoted as Nd-Schiff-base@BMNPs. The obtained supported neodymium complex was used as a practical, selective, biocompatible, commercial, and reusable heterogeneous nanocatalyst. The biochar support of this nanocatalyst was formed from pyrolysis of chicken manure; therefore, it is cheap, economically viable, green and also compatible with the principles of green chemistry. Nd-Schiff-base@BMNPs acts selectively in organic reactions and also it can easily be recovered using an external magnet and reused, which is compatible with the principles of green chemistry. This nanocatalyst was characterized by wavelength-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (WDX), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), inductively coupled plasma (ICP), and N adsorption-desorption (BET method) techniques. In the next step, the catalytic utilization of Nd-Schiff-base@BMNPs was investigated in the homoselective synthesis of 5-substituted 1-tetrazole compounds from [3 + 2] cycloaddition of sodium azide (NaN) and organo-nitriles in PEG-400 as a green solvent. Utilizing PEG-400 as a solvent offers various advantages, cheap, readily available, and environmentally friendly solvent as well as rapid separation and high purity of products. Therefore, this work is fully compatible with the principles of green chemistry.