Metal-organic frameworks as a unique class of high-surface-area materials have gained considerable attention due to their characteristic properties. In this perspective, herein, we report an eco-friendly and inexpensive route for the synthesis of 4(3H)- quinazolinones by means of a magnetically separable core-shell-like bimetallic Fe3O4-MAA@Co-MOF@Cu-MOF NPs as an environmentally friendly heterogeneous catalyst. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first example of the integration of two different types of MOFs which contain two different metal ions (Co+2 in core and Cu+2 in shell) by using an external ligand. Our study not only introduce a novel nanostructured catalyst for organic reaction, but also present a new strategy to the combination of two MOFs in one particle at the nanometer level. To survey the structural and compositional features of the synthesized nanocatalyst, a variety of spectroscopic and microscopic techniques including FT -IR, XRD, BET, TEM, FE-SEM, EDX, EDX-mapping, TGA, VSM, and ICP-OES have been employed. The combination of magnetic Co-MOF with Cu-MOF leads to achieve a unique structural and compositional properties for Fe3O4-MAA@Co-MOF@Cu-MOF NPs with a particle size of 20-70 nm, meso structure, and relatively large specific surface areas (236.16 m2/g). The as-prepared nanostructured catalyst can be an excellent environment catalyst for the synthesis of a wide library of 4(3H)-quinazolinones derivatives, including electron-donating and electron-withdrawing aromatic, heteroaromatic, and aliphatic compounds under solvent-free conditions much better than the parent precursors. Moreover, via investigating the longevity of nanocatalyst, the conclusion could be derived that the aforesaid nanocatalyst is stable under the reaction conditions and could be recycled at least seven recycle runs without a discernible decrease in its catalytic activity.

Keywords