A capable cobalt nano‐catalyst for the N‐formylation of various amines and its biological activity studies.

The Fe₃O₄ magnetic nanoparticles (Fe₃O₄ MNPs) were modified with 1,10-phenanthroline-5,6-diol and the relevant Co complex (Fe₃O₄@Phendiol@Co) synthesized as a nano-magnetic heterogeneous catalyst to be used for the N-formylation of various amines at room temperature under solvent-free conditions. Also, in order to find the better concept of the catalyst role, the N-formylation reaction was carried out by the use of ultrasound irradiation in the absence of the Co nano-catalyst and the results were compared. The catalyst characterized by different methods such as the elemental analysis (CHN), ICP, FT-IR, XRD, EDX, SEM, TEM, TG-DTA, VSM and XPS. In addition, the antioxidant and the antibacterial activities of the Fe₃O₄@Phendiol@Co nano-catalyst and its Phendiol ligand were in vitro screened by 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging and disc diffusion methods. Results showed that they possess strong antioxidant activity (IC₅₀; 0.182 ± 0.006 mg/ml) and good antibacterial potential in comparison to standards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]