Magnetic Cu/Co nanoparticles supported on nitrogen-doped porous carbon derived from Cu/Co@aZIF: Investigation of catalytic activity and structural properties

By calcining copper-doped amorphous zeolitic imidazolate framework (Cu/Co@aZIF), a novel magnetic nanoporous carbon composite (Cu/Co@NPC) material was produced, characterized by different spectroscopic techniques, and used for the first time as an efficient catalyst for the azide-alkyne cycloaddition (AAC) reaction and the reduction reaction of nitrophenol (RRN) under air in water. With this catalyst, the AAC and RRN reactions were conducted in aqueous solutions, and good to excellent yields of related products were synthesized in a short reaction time. The potential of the magnetic Cu/Co@NPC nanocatalyst for targeting RRN and AAC reactions was uncovered by studying specific substrates for RRN and AAC reactions. The Cu/Co@NPC magnetic nanocatalyst is recyclable at least five times, with just a drop of 6% and 22% in catalytic efficiency in RRN and AAC, respectively.