XPS and structural studies of Fe3O4-PTMS-NAS@Cu as a novel magnetic natural asphalt base network and recoverable nanocatalyst for the synthesis of biaryl compounds

Abstract In this research, natural asphalt as a mineral carbonuous material was converted to sodium natural asphalt sulfonate (Na-NAS) and, then, was linked to Fe 3 O 4 MNPs in order to synthesize the magnetic nanocatalyst. Afterwards, Cupper (I) and Cu (II) was grafted on Fe 3 O 4 -PTMS-NAS. Moreover, it is worth mentioning that the synthesized the novel magnetic nanocatalyst (Fe 3 O 4 -PTMS-NAS@Cu) was successfully used in Suzuki and Stille coupling reactions. The Fe 3 O 4 -PTMS-NAS@Cu MNPs were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM), inductively coupled plasma (ICP), BET and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis. Besides, sulfonation of natural asphalt, magnetization of catalyst, grafting of Cu (I) and Cu (II) to NAS and catalyst formation were investigated and proved carefully. This nanocatalyst can be comfortably separated from the reaction medium through an external magnetic field and can also be recovered and reused, while maintaining its catalytic activity.