Phosphate functionalized graphene oxide with enhanced catalytic activity for Biginelli type reaction under microwave condition

•Phosphate functionalized GO (PGO) was prepared via Arbuzov reaction.•The incorporation of phosphorous into GO was thoroughly characterized by a set of analytical techniques.•First time use of a GO-based catalyst as active catalyst was shown for Biginelli type of reactions.•The catalyst could be recycled for five times without any effective loss in activity.

Phosphate functionalized graphene oxide (PGO), prepared by covalently bonding triethylphosphite on to the surface of graphene oxide (GO) via Arbuzov reaction has been demonstrated as an efficient catalyst for three component Biginelli condensation reaction with excellent yield (96%) under microwave condition. The PGO nanocatalyst was thoroughly characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectra (FTIR), FT-Raman spectroscopy, Powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Field-emission Scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), N2 adsorption/desorption study, Ammonia temperature-programmed desorption analysis (NH3-TPD) and Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The presence of acidic groups on PGO which play an important role in the catalytic transformation were measured by NH3-TPD analysis. Based on the catalytic results, a feasible catalytic mechanism has been proposed. Besides high catalytic activity, this nanocatalyst showed good recyclability, suggesting its potential applications for the synthesis of other important organic molecules.

Graphical abstractHighly active phosphate functionalised graphene oxide (PGO) nanocomposite has been designed via simple Arbuzov reaction and used as an efficient catalyst for Biginelli reaction in microwave condition.Download high-res image (76KB)Download full-size image