Copper containing nanosilica thioalated dendritic material: A recyclable catalyst for synthesis of benzimidazoles and benzothiazoles

In this paper, the design and characterization of a new heterogeneous catalyst by incorporation of copper ions into the nanosilica modified by thiole-based dendrimer are reported. The prepared catalyst was characterized by FT-IR, TGA, elemental analysis, FE-SEM, TEM, XPS and ICP-OES techniques. This material was used as catalyst in the synthesis benzimidazoles and benzothiazoles by the reaction of substituted benzaldehydes with 1,2-diaminobenzene or 2-aminothiophenol, respectively. The advantages of the present catalytic system are high yields, mild conditions and short reaction times. On the other hand, this new synthesized catalyst was recycled very well and reused several times without significant loss of its catalytic activity.