Fast and efficient reduction of nitro aromatic compounds over Fe3O4/β-alanine-acrylamide-Ni nanocomposite as a new magnetic catalyst

• The synthesized nanocomposite has an excellent chemical stability.
• This magnetic catalyst could be prepared by a cheap and simple method.
• The catalyst exhibited high catalytic activity in the reduction of nitro compounds.
• Short reaction time for the reduction of nitro aromatic compounds is remarkable.
• The catalyst has an excellent level of reusability.

In this study, Ni nanoparticles incorporated β-alanine-acrylamide (Ala-AA) was successfully prepared by a simple method. The obtained magnetic nanocomposite exhibited excellent activity as a new heterogeneous magnetic catalyst for the reduction of a number of nitro aromatic compounds under mild conditions along with high level of reusability.