Mimusops elengi bark extract mediated green synthesis of gold nanoparticles and study of its catalytic activity

The bark extract of Mimusops elengi is rich in different types of plant secondary metabolites such as flavonoids, tannins, triterpenoids and saponins. The present study shows the usefulness of the bark extract of Mimusops elengi for the green synthesis of gold nanoparticles in water at room temperature under very mild conditions. The synthesis of the gold nanoparticles was complete within a few minutes without any extra stabilizing or capping agents and the polyphenols present in the bark extract acted as both reducing as well as stabilizing agents. The synthesized colloidal gold nanoparticles were characterized by HRTEM, surface plasmon resonance spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction studies. The synthesized gold nanoparticles have been used as an efficient catalyst for the reduction of 3-nitrophenol and 4-nitrophenol to their corresponding aminophenols in water at room temperature.