Past and Present Research Systems of Green Chemistry

Biography

Biography: R.K. Sharma

Abstract

The development of novel catalytic technologies has provided a great impetus to modern organic synthesis by addressing the crucial challenges of green chemistry namely-“energy and sustainability.” Therefore, it not surprising that till date, a plethora of homogeneous as well as heterogeneous catalytic systems has been fabricated that have shown their efficacy in different organic transformations. However, their recovery and reusability along with the synergistic benefit of high activity has intrigued the chemists since long. Fortunately, with the advent of cutting-edge green nanotechnology, the field of catalysis science has experienced a potential economic boom as it enables the successful generation of precisely engineered catalytic systems that fulfil the desired goals of activity and recovery. In recent years, magnetically responsive nanomaterials employing silica decorated magnetic nanoparticles (SMNPs) as the solid support have conquered new horizons in the area of catalytic research as they enable environmentally-friendly and sustainable processes. Owing to exceptional magnetic properties, they offer ease of separation from the desired reaction mixtures using simply an external magnet along with enhanced recyclability. Also, the silica coating imparts long term stability to these nanoparticles (NPs) by screening the magnetic dipolar attraction between the NPs. Impressed by the fascinating features of SMNPs; we have fabricated a wide variety of silica decorated magnetically recoverable nanocatalysts that have efficiently catalyzed diverse organic reactions such as coupling, oxidation of aryl halides, reduction of nitroarenes etc. The design of such type of green nanocatalysts opens up new avenues for the large scale synthesis of industrially significant products.