Diethylenetriamine immobilized on magnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles (DETAFe3O4) was successfully prepared as a new and well dispersed magnetically separable amine catalyst. The structure of the resulting catalyst was well characterized by a series of analysis techniques such as FT-IR, SEM, EDX, VSM, TGA and XRD. The catalytic activity of DETA-Fe3O4 was evaluated with Knoevenagel condensation of active methylene compounds with aromatic aldehydes. Interestingly, the cyclocondensation of anthranilamide and aldehydes were effectively catalyzed by DETA-Fe3O4 in water, and the desired products (2,3-dihydroquinazoline-4(1H)-ones) were afforded in admirable yields. Catalysis research under aqueous medium (water) also makes this synthetic protocol ideal and fascinating from the environmental point of view. The amine catalyst can be magnetically recovered after the reaction and can be reused many times without appreciable decrease in activity.
