Synthesis and characterization of nickel complex anchored onto MCM-41 as a novel and reusable nanocatalyst for the efficient synthesis of 2,3-dihydroquinazolin-4(1H)-ones

A heterogeneous catalyst, MCM-41-dtz-Ni, was synthesized by anchoring a nickel complex in functionalized mesoporous MCM-41 and used as an efficient, recoverable and thermally stable nanocatalyst for the one-pot synthesis of 2,3-dihydroquinazolin-4(1H)-ones from 2-aminobenzamide and aromatic aldehydes in PEG. Nanospherical MCM-41 with an average size of 40 nm and pore diameter of 3 nm was prepared through sol-gel approach using tetraethyl orthosilicate (Si(OC2H5)(4)) as silica source. The structure of functionalized MCM-41 was studied by FT-IR, XRD, SEM, TEM, TGA, EDS, ICP and BET techniques. MCM-41-dtz-Ni exhibits excellent catalytic activity for the synthesis of 2,3-dihydroquinazolin-4(1H)-ones under mild reaction conditions. The heterogeneous catalyst showed good recyclability and can be reused for five consecutive cycles without significant loss of its catalytic activity. (C) 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.