1D iron vanadate-reduced graphene oxide nanorod composite for efficient oxidative esterification of aldehydes

In this paper, we report a facile and one-pot hydrothermal synthesis of FeVO4-rGO nanorod composite and its application as a heterogeneous catalyst in the oxidative esterification reaction of aldehydes using hydrogen peroxide oxidant. The nanomaterial is thoroughly characterized by different techniques, namely, XPS, FESEM, elemental mapping, XRD, Raman, HRTEM, etc. The as-prepared nanocatalyst shows good activity for the controlled base-free oxidative esterification of various aromatic aldehydes in alcohol solvents under refluxing conditions, achieving good yields of the desired esters. Furthermore, the substrate scope was explored over a wide array of substituted aromatic aldehydes with diverse electron-withdrawing and electron-donating groups in the phenyl ring. The presence of heterogeneous interfaces-induced properties in the nanorod composite results in synergistic effects to provide good catalytic performance. Thus, binary transition metal oxide-reduced graphene oxide-based nanocomposite as a nanocatalyst can open doors for efficient and sustainable esterification of aromatic aldehydes and aliphatic alcohols under oxidative conditions.