Synthesis and characterization of CdS and Mn doped CdS nanoparticles and their catalytic application for chemoselective synthesis of benzimidazoles and benzothiazoles in aqueous medium

CdS and Manganese doped CdS nanoparticles of similar to 2 nm have been prepared at room temperature by a wet chemical technique. The heterogeneous catalysts were fully characterized by XRD, TEM, EDAX, ICP-AES and UV/VIS. These nanoparticles were exploited to study their catalytic activities towards the chemoselective aqueous mediated synthesis of 2-aryl benzimidazoles and benzothiazoles. Doping of Mn promotes the activity and selectivity of CdS nanoparticles indicated by high TOF value, providing the products in good to excellent yields, and with good chemoselectivity. The catalyst could also be recovered easily and used repetitively four times without significantly affecting the catalytic activity. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.