Iron (III)-doped, ionic liquid matrix-immobilized, mesoporous silica nanoparticles: Application as recyclable catalyst for synthesis of pyrimidines in water

•The IL@Fe-MCM-41 NPs was prepared via simple chemical process.•The catalyst was characterized by XRD, FT-IR, EDS, FE-SEM, VSM, N2 adsorption–desorption analysis and AAS techniques.•The catalyst can be recovered several cycles without any loss of catalytic activity.•The IL@Fe-MCM-41 NPs was employed in synthesis of pyrimidines in water.

A novel ionic liquid functionalized iron-containing mesoporous silica nanoparticles (Fe-MCM-41-IL) was prepared by anchoring a triazolium ionic liquid on the surface of Fe loaded MCM. The result samples were characterized by XRD, FT-IR, EDS, XRF, HRTEM, FE-SEM, VSM, N2 adsorption–desorption analysis and AAS techniques. The use of Fe-MCM-41-IL as an efficient reusable heterogeneous catalyst allows one-pot synthesis of pyrimidine derivatives under mild condition in high yields from substituted aldehydes, two moles of 2-thiobarbituric acid and ammonium acetate. Operational simplicity, low cost, high yields, eco-friendly reaction conditions, economical catalyst, reusability and easy recovery of the catalyst make this procedure greener than the other reported works.

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