Recyclable clay supported Cu (II) catalyzed tandem one-pot synthesis of 1-aryl-1,2,3-triazoles

Montmorillonite KSF clay supported CuO nanoparticles efficiently catalyzes one-pot aromatic azidonation of aryl boronic acids followed by regioselective azide–alkyne 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition (CuAAC) reaction producing corresponding 1-aryl-1,2,3-triazole derivatives at room temperature in excellent yields without use of any additives. Investigations on mechanism of CuAAC revealed that sodium azide, which is used as azidonating reagent in one-pot protocol reduces Cu(II) to click-active Cu(I). The catalytic efficiency of another Cu(II) source CuSO4 in combination with NaN3 for this one-pot CuAAC protocol, further supported our mechanism. This is the first report for use of Cu(II)/NaN3 catalytic system for CuAAC protocol. The clay–Cu(II) catalyst being ligand-free, leaching-free, easy to synthesize from inexpensive commercially available precursors, recyclable, and environmentally friendly will be highly useful for economical synthesis of 1,4-disubstituted 1,2,3-triazoles.