Nano-Fe3O4/PEG/succinic anhydride: A novel and efficient catalyst for the synthesis of benzoxanthenes under ultrasonic irradiation.

In this paper, we reported the successful synthesis of Fe3O4/polyethyleneglycol (PEG)/succinic anhydride nanocatalyst. The catalyst was fully characterized by scanning electronic microscopy (SEM), vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), dynamic laser scattering (DLS) and FT-IR spectroscopy. Fe3O4/PEG/succinic anhydride nanocatalyst as an efficient and green catalyst has been used for the synthesis of benzoxanthenes by the three-component condensation reaction of aldehydes, 2-hydroxynaphthalene-1,4-dione and 2-naphthol or dimedone under ultrasonic irradiation. This method offers several advantages such as easy work-up, excellent yields, short reaction times, using of ultrasonic as a green method, recoverability of the catalyst and little catalyst loading.