An environmentally friendly approach to the synthesis of azo dyes based on 2-naphthol using kaolin-SO3H nanoparticles

Kaolin-SO3H nanoparticles were prepared via reaction of kaolin and chlorosulfonic acid and characterized by FT-IR, XRD, FESEM, TEM, XRF, EDS, BET and TGA. The activity of this green catalyst was probed by the synthesis of aryl diazonium salts as the starting reactant and then, their diazo coupling with 2-naphthol to form azo dyes in a solvent-free medium at room temperature. The work-up of the reaction was easy, and the catalyst was removed from the products by simple filtration. The reaction proceeded in a short time, easy purification technique, high yields, and was environmentally friendly furthering approaches to green chemistry. The products were characterized by FT-IR and NMR spectroscopy.