Novel nano molten salt tetra-2,3-pyridiniumporphyrazinato-oxo-vanadium tricyanomethanide as a vanadium surface-free phthalocyanine catalyst: Application to Strecker synthesis of α-aminonitrile derivatives

Efficient and recyclable novel nano tetra-2,3-pyridiniumporphyrazinato-oxo-vanadium tricyanomethanide, {[VO(TPPA)][C(CN)(3)](4)}, as a vanadium surface-free phthalocyanine-based molten salt catalyst was successfully designed, produced and used for the Strecker synthesis of alpha-aminonitrile derivatives through a one-pot three-component reaction between aromatic aldehydes, trimethylsilyl cyanide and aniline derivatives under neat conditions at 50 degrees C. This catalyst was well characterized using Fourier transform infrared, UV-visible, X-ray photoelectron and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopies, X-ray diffraction, scanning and high-resolution transmission electron microscopies, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and thermogravimetric analysis. The catalyst can be simply recovered and reused several times without significant loss of catalytic activity.