Rapid, convenient and solvent-free green approach for the synthesis of aryloximes using ZnO nanoparticles as an efficient catalyst

Freshly prepared ZnO nanoparticles were used as an effective heterogeneous Lewis acid catalyst for the synthesis of aryloximes. The conversion of arylaldehydes and arylketones into the corresponding oximes (up to quantitative yields) was achieved by simply mixing the liquid reactants and hydroxylamine hydrochloride with ZnO nanoparticles under solvent-free condition. The procedure was carried out under wet conditions for solid reactants. The advantages of this method include mild reaction conditions, one-pot procedure, operational simplicity and use of inexpensive and non-toxic catalyst.