A new strategy for immobilization of copper on the FeO@EDTA nanocomposite and its efficient catalytic applications in reduction and one-pot reductive acetylation of nitroarenes and also -acetylation of arylamines.

A new and efficient Cu(II)-containing mesoporous nanocatalytic system was synthesized by direct immobilization of copper metal powder on the FeO@EDTA nanocomposite. The as-prepared FeO@EDTA@Cu(II) nanocomposite was then characterized by FT-IR, XRD, SEM, TEM, SEM-based EDX and elemental mapping, XPS, TGA, VSM, and also BET and BJH analyses. The resulting FeO@EDTA@Cu(II) mesoporous nanocomposite exhibited satisfactory catalytic activity towards the reduction and one-pot reductive acetylation of nitroarenes and also N-acetylation of arylamines in water at 60 °C. Notably, the applied Cu(II)-containing nanocatalyst was efficiently recovered from the reaction mixture using an external magnetic field and could be reused successfully for five cycles. The protocol developed in this study offers several advantages in terms of mild reaction conditions, simple workflows, using water as a green solvent, and easy recovery and catalyst reuse, making it more ecologically and economically attractive.