Cellulose‑copper as bio-supported recyclable catalyst for the clickable azide-alkyne [3 + 2] cycloaddition reaction in water.

Naturally-occurring cellulose has been employed as a bio-support macromolecule for the immobilization of either copper(I) or copper(II) ions in order to click azide and alkyne derivatives in water. Under such a click regime, 1,4-disubstitued-1,2,3-triazoles were obtained regioselectively in excellent yields at room temperature. The reaction work-up is simple and the bio-heterogeneous catalyst that has been fully characterized by AAS, SEM, EDX and FT-IR can be easily separated and reused at least five times without any significant decrease in its activity and selectivity, particularly in the case of the very stable CuI-Cellulose.