Nanostructured Fe3O4@SiO2 shell-coated APTES/AEAPS as an efficient and recyclable catalyst for selective N-alkylation of amines using alcohol

Herein, we report the synthesis of hybrid catalysts 1 (Fe3O4@SiO2-APTES-Cu+2) and 2 (Fe3O4@SiO2-AEAPS-Cu+2) by immobilizing copper acetate on 3-aminopropyltriethoxy silane (APTES) and N-(2-aminoethyl)-3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (AEAPS) grafted Fe3O4@SiO2 core–shell nanoparticles. The as-prepared catalysts 1 & 2 were found active for C-N coupling reaction between primary amines and alcohols in toluene. The effect of concentration of catalyst, nature of base and temperature on catalytic activity were explored. The catalysts were then retrieved 5 times without significant loss in their catalytic activity.