Nanomagnetic nickel complex based on salicylamide and l-proline ligands as an efficient heterogeneous catalyst for synthesis of tetrazoles.

A novel salicylamide-l-proline-nickel(ii) complex, supported on magnetic iron oxide [FeO@salicylamide-l-proline-Ni(ii)], was synthesized through a three-step procedure. This included the functionalization of FeO with amine groups using glycine as a linker, followed by direct amidation of salicylic acid and its subsequent coordination with Ni(ii) and l-proline as a co-ligand to form the nanomagnetic Ni(ii) complex. The resulting catalyst was comprehensively characterized by several techniques. The catalyst exhibited outstanding catalytic performance in the homoselective synthesis of 5-substituted-1-tetrazoles from benzonitriles. Notably, it demonstrated excellent recyclability, maintaining high efficiency over eight reaction cycles. The use of a low-cost linker, ligand, and complex catalyst, combined with easy magnetic separation, minimal leaching, and scalability, renders this approach both environmentally sustainable and economically advantageous compared to traditional Ni-based methods.