A research article by Dr Randhir Rai, Visiting Faculty, Chemistry, SIAS titled, Catalytic application of second cycle copper-based laboratory waste forsynthesis of beta-keto-1,2,3-triazole: A micro circular economy approach has been published in the Elsevier journal.
This study follows the circular economy principle to explore the catalytic potential of second-cycle cuprous oxide laboratory waste. Undergraduate students generated cuprous oxide as a second cycle waste during a practicalsession, where they used an aqueous solution of recycled copper sulfate pentahydrate as a Fehling’s reagent A.
The cuprous oxide waste was isolated by a simple filtration method and characterized using infrared spectros-copy, powder X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and electron microscopic techniques. The isolated material was used as an active click catalyst to synthesize beta-keto-1,2,3-triazole in an aqueous medium via a one-pot, three-component click reaction. The catalytic activity of the second-cycled cuprous oxide waste was compared with first-cycled cuprous oxide waste and commercial cuprous oxide. They observed that the catalyst was recycled and reused for up to two cycles without significant yield loss. Also, the synthesized beta- keto-1,2,3-triazole was found to show chelating properties towards copper.