Facile and rapid decoration of graphene oxide with copper double salt, oxides and metallic copper as catalysts in oxidation and coupling reactions

Abstract

We present a new facile and rapid microwave-assisted method to synthesize four different copper nanocompounds on the surface of graphene oxide (GO). By starting from a mixture of copper nitrate and GO, copper hydroxy nitrate double salt (DS) (Cu2(OH)3(NO3)), copper (II) and copper (I) oxides and metallic copper (Cu0) were synthesized and supported simultaneously. The catalytic performance of the four copper/GO nanohybrids as well as some unsupported particles in some common organic reactions has been checked. The studied materials present a high versatility in C–C, C–N, and C–S couplings as well as in catalytic selective oxidation reactions. The performance of DS/GO as an heterogeneous catalyst is presented for the first time and shows the highest activity among all the copper/GO nanohybrid studied systems. The results open up the possibility of a more thorough study of the catalytic performance of the supported copper double salt in other different catalytic and consecutive processes of organic synthesis.