Magnetic Fe–Cr–Ni oxide alloy nano-belts prepared from the chemical decomposition of a stainless steel screw (a top-down approach): an efficient and cheap catalyst for multicomponent reactions

A new, cheap, and accessible method has been used for the preparation of nano-belts from the chemical decomposition (top-down approach) of a cheap stainless steel screw and found as an efficient magnetically recyclable nanocatalyst for the preparation of quinolines and 1,8-dioxo-octahydroxanthenes under mild reaction conditions. The nano-belts, Fe–Cr–Ni oxide alloy, was prepared in a two-step synthesis and characterized with various instrumental methods. Due to magnetic property of the screw (a ferritic-alloy), the resultant nano-belts is magnetic. Magnetic Fe–Cr–Ni alloy nano-belts were applied toward efficient preparation of quinolines and 1,8-dioxo-octahydroxanthenes under mild conditions. The catalyst could be readily recovered and recycled for several consecutive runs, while it suffers from a very low metal leaching and subsequently efficiency drop.