Preparation of a novel, efficient, and recyclable magnetic catalyst, Cu(II)-OHPC-Fe3O4 nanoparticles, and a solvent-free protocol for the synthesis of coumarin derivatives.

Cu(II) supported on 5-oxo-4,5-dihydro-pyrrole-3-carboxylic acid functionalized Fe3O4 nanoparticles (Cu(II)-OHPC-Fe3O4) as a new magnetic nanocatalyst was prepared and characterized by ICP-AES, FT-IR, XRD, SEM, TEM, TGA, XRD, VSM and EDX techniques. Prepared nanocatalyst (Cu(II)-OHPC-Fe3O4) is employed for Pechmann reactions between different substituted phenols and ethyl acetoacetate to obtain new products of coumarin derivatives in good to excellent yields. This green catalyst was easily removed, reused several times with no significant loss of its activity and provided clean synthesis with excellent yield and reduced time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]