Visible light assisted reduction of nitrobenzenes using Fe(bpy)3+2/rGO nanocomposite as photocatalyst

•Heterogenized Fe(bpy)3/rGO photoredox catalyst was synthesized by mixing of Fe(bpy)3(PF6)2 and rGO in water/acetonitrile•Heterogenized Fe(bpy)3/rGO photoredox catalyst was used for visible light assisted reduction of ntrobenzenes•Heterogenized Fe(bpy)3/rGO photocatalyst exhibited superior activity than homogeneous iron complex and rGO.•The developed photocatalyst was found to be quite stable, efficient and easily recoverable for recycling.

Visible-light-induced photocatalytic reduction of aromatic nitrobenzenes to the corresponding anilines at room temperature using reduced graphene oxide (rGO) immobilized iron(II) bipyridine complex as photocatalyst is described. The rGO-immobilized iron catalyst exhibited superior catalytic activity than homogeneous iron(II) bipyridine complex and much higher than metal free rGO photocatalysts. The heterogeneous photocatalyst was found to be robust and could easily be recovered and reused for several runs without any significant loss in photocatalytic activity.

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