Supported gold nanoparticles on lignosulfonate coated magnetic nanoparticles: Investigation of its catalytic efficiency in the reductive formylation of nitroarenes

This article describes a biogenic synthesis towards the fabrication of Au NPs over sodium lignosulfonate (NaLS) modified Fe3O4 bio-nanocomposite and its catalytic and biological applications. The morphology and physicochemical characteristics of the material were determined over a number of analytical techniques like FT-IR, FE-SEM, TEM, EDS, XRD, ICP-OES and VSM. The prepared Fe3O4@NaLS/Au nanocomposite presented an excellent catalytic performance in the one-pot synthesis of N-formyl amines via reductive formylation of different nitrobenzene derivatives using NaBH4 as the hydride source and triethyl orthoformate [CH(OEt)3] as the formylating agent. Due to magnetic core, the nanocatalyst was retrieved magnetically with facile and recycled for 8 successive runs keeping its potential intact.