Efficient preparation of graphene oxide-immobilized copper complex and its catalytic performance in the synthesis of imidazoles

This paper focused on the synthesis of phenylthiocarbamide-grafted graphene oxide (GO)-supported Cu complex (Cu-PTC@GO) as a highly efficient and recyclable catalyst synthesis by various analytical techniques such as TG, FT-IR, XRD, BET, N(2) adsorption–desorption isotherms, SEM, EDX, and elemental mapping analysis. Cu-PTC@GO showed outstanding results in preparing various imidazoles with higher yields, reduced reaction time, ease of product separation, and a simple procedure. In addition, the catalyst demonstrated appreciable recyclability up to five successive runs, and there was no substantial loss in catalytic performance. The result indicated that the heterogeneous base GO catalyst performed high activity and excellent recyclability in synthesizing various imidazoles and their derivatives, owing to the unique state of the GO-supported copper complex.