Metal nanoparticles assisted amine catalyzed transesterification under ambient conditions

•First report on nanoparticles (NPs) assisted amine catalyzed transesterification.•Transesterification of higher to lower esters and vice versa at room temperature.•Applied to aliphatic, heterocyclic, aromatic esters with other functional groups.•NPs can be recycled up to 24 cycles with no compromise in the yield.

Ethylenediamine provides excellent activity under ambient conditions when assisted by metal nanoparticles for the transesterification of higher to lower esters and vice versa. This is the first report on room temperature conversion of diethylmalonate to dimethylmalonate using this novel catalytic system. The nanoparticles were successfully recycled up to 24 cycles (although with an increase in reaction time) with no compromise in the yield. Various primary alcohols were used for transesterification. The scope was extended to aliphatic, heterocyclic and aromatic esters with various functional groups.

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