Application of nickel ferrite and cobalt ferrite magnetic nanoparticles in C-O bond formation: a comparative study between their catalytic activities

Magnetic nanoparticles of nickel ferrite and cobalt ferrite were synthesized and their catalytic activity in the C-O bond formation reaction was compared. Both these spinel systems can catalyze the reaction between various types of aryl halides and phenol derivatives efficiently. The catalysts are easily removed from the reaction medium and can be reused further in several runs. All the reactions resulted in very good to excellent yields under optimized reaction conditions; however, reactions using nickel ferrite as catalyst were completed in relatively shorter reaction times. Also, analyses showed that the reusability of the two catalytic systems is approximately comparable.