Probing the fascinating role of Eu-AgNPs in the synthesis of bioactive substituted chalcones as a green matrix and study of their biological potential

Abstract

The demand of environment benign and biologically active nanomaterials has spurred the development of green synthesis methodologies. The aim of present study was to develop a cost effective and ecofriendly synthesis methodology for Eucalyptus decorated silver nanoparticles (Eu-AgNPs) using a sustainable approach and affirmed by range of physicochemical techniques including fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy – dispersive x-ray (EDX) spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), thermogravemetric analysis (TGA), and powder x-ray diffraction (PXRD).The synthesized Eu-AgNPs were utilized as a potential catalyst in the synthesis of substituted chalcones. The robust features of the present approach exhibit remarkable catalytic performance, easy work up procedures, broad functional group tolerance, recyclability of the catalyst, better green chemistry metrices like low E factor (0.15), low PMI (1.15), high RME (86.53 %), high AE (94.0 %), high CE (92.0 %), high TON (47.84) and high TOF (191.36 h^-1). Furthermore, to evaluate the antimicrobial activity of prepared Eu-AgNPs, experiments were conducted using nutrient agar medium (NAM) utilizing diffusion zone method. This study demonstrated the dual utility of Eu-AgNPs as a potential and sustainable catalyst for synthesis of high value chemicals and as effective antimicrobial agents, which contributes to the advancement of green chemistry and nanotechnology.