Chitosan: An efficient biodegradable and recyclable green catalyst for one-pot synthesis of 3,4-dihydropyrimidinones of curcumin in aqueous media

An efficient procedure for the synthesis of curcumin 3,4-dihydropyrimidinones has been developed by simple one-pot condensation of curcumin, aromatic aldehydes and urea/thiourea in the presence of commercially available chitosan in 2% acetic acid in aqueous media at 60 °C for 80–90 min. In the reaction, curcumin: a potential biologically active molecule has been used as a component of multi-component synthesis using chitosan as an efficient biodegradable and recyclable green catalyst. The resultant product curcumin 3,4-dihydropyrimidinone is formed in excellent yield (97%). The chitosan catalyst can be reused for without loss of catalytic activity.

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► Chitosan used in the present procedure is biodegradable and reusable catalyst.
► No significant loss of catalytic activity when tested up to five catalytic cycles.
► The catalytic reaction was carried out in aqueous media.
► Yield of the desired product is excellent in the present synthesis.