Graphene oxide supported dicationic ionic liquid: an efficient catalyst for the synthesis of 1-carbamatoalkyl-2-naphthols

This article describes the synthesis, characterization, and catalytic application of graphene oxide (GO) supported imidazolium based dicationic ionic liquid (DIL@GO). The DIL@GO was successfully synthesized through stepwise functionalization of GO. The as prepared DIL@GO was characterized by different microscopic and spectroscopic techniques such as XRD, SEM, TEM, TGA, FT-IR, EDX and CHNS analysis. The catalytic efficiency of the DIL@GO was explored for the synthesis of 1-carbamatoalkyl-2-naphthol derivatives through condensation of aromatic aldehydes, alkyl carbamates and 2-naphthol. The influence of catalyst amount and reaction temperature is examined to optimize the performance of catalytic reactions. It is found that DIL@GO offers a highly efficient solvent-free reaction path for the synthesis of 1-carbamatoalkyl-2-naphthols. Based on this, a plausible mechanism for the conversion is proposed. Additionally, the catalyst showed good stability, facile separation and reusability up to five reaction cycles without significant loss of catalytic activity.