Fe(OH)3 nano solid material: An efficient catalyst for regioselective ring opening of aryloxy epoxide with amines under solvent free condition

• Catalysts Fe(OH)3, Fe3O4 and Fe2O3 were synthesized and characterized.
• Among them Fe(OH)3 was effective in ring opening of aryloxy epoxides with amines.
• The product β-amino alcohols were achieved in high yield (∼96%) in 10–360 min.
• Drugs (S)-Propanolol and (S)-Naftopidil were prepared under solvent free condition.
• The catalyst Fe(OH)3 was recycled several times successfully.

Iron hydroxide-Fe(OH)3 and iron oxides (Fe3O4 and Fe2O3) were successfully prepared and characterized. These materials were employed as efficient and environmentally benign heterogeneous catalysts for the epoxide ring opening reaction of various aryloxy, terminal and meso epoxides with aromatic and aliphatic amines under solvent free condition at room temperature. Out of these, nano-sized Fe(OH)3 (IH-1) showed better catalytic activity to give the product β-amino alcohols in excellent yield (up to ∼96%) and high regioselectivity in 10–360 min. The catalyst was successfully recycled and reused eight times with no loss in catalytic activity.

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