Abstract:
The formation of anilines–chief intermediates in the agrochemical field and pharmaceutical
industries–counts on the precious earth metal catalysts that particularly reduce only nitro groups
present on aromatic rings bearing other simply reducible groups. For this reason, the formation of
such heterogenous catalysts which possess long term stability, efficiency, and selectivity in order
to reduce substituted nitroarenes is demanding. Transition metal phosphides possess interesting
magnetic, catalytic, and electronic features. The synthesis of transition metal phosphides is quite
tough. In the literature reported, first copper oxides were made and then phosphine gas was passed
through them. Phosphine gas is highly toxic and poisonous. In this work, CuO-Cu3P/C@800
catalyst is prepared through a very facile and environment friendly route. Only single source
precursors were used to prepare it. This catalyst exhibited high catalytic efficacy i.e., 100%
conversion with superior selectivity (>99%). This catalyst provides an excellent relationship of
catalytic functioning with the coordination environment of CuO-Cu3P/C@800 and it serves as a
potent catalyst for the formation of aromatic anilines by reducing the nitroarenes through
molecular hydrogen.
