Magnetic nanoparticles as green catalysts in organic synthesis-a review

In the last few decades in chemical science have seen efforts being made to make the process of chemical synthesis greener. The green chemistry principles demand a catalytic system that not only transforms the reacting species into profitable chemicals, pharmaceuticals, fuels, etc. at an accelerated rate but also tends to reduce the generation of waste, increase atom economy having a facile separation procedure. Nanocatalysis provides one of the paths to ensure the amplified efficacy of the catalytic process by acting as a bridge between the Homogeneous and Heterogeneous catalysts. The issue of the cumbersome separation process of isolating the nanocatalyst from the reaction medium is resolved by using magnetically separable nanoparticles-based catalysts. This review discusses the significance of magnetic nanocatalysis and its utilization in various prominent chemical transformations in organic syntheses such as hydrogenation reactions, oxidation reactions, carbon-carbon coupling reactions, click reactions, synthesis involving organocatalysis, and other miscellaneous reactions.