Lignin derived carbon capped CuO assisted one pot synthesis of quinazolines and its antibacterial activity

A new nanocomposite system based on carbon supported CuO material was designed and confirmed by various techniques, such as XRD, FTIR, UV–Vis, PL and FE-SEM. A straightforward and scalable procedure that involves carbonizing lignin deposited on the surface of copper oxide nanoparticles produces CuO/C nanocomposites. In this study, CuO/C nanocomposites were used as photocatalysts for a one-pot synthesis of quinazolines under blue light irradiation. The catalyst showed excellent activity for synthesizing quinazolines (8 examples) with higher yield (84–94%) and easy recovery from the reaction mixture. The recovered CuO/C nanocomposites were used for 5 consecutive cycles, without significant loss of its catalytic activity. The synthesized compounds were also tested for antibacterial activity, and they exhibited considerable activity. This research will pave the way for the investigation of the use of lignin-derived carbon as a substrate for other types of nanoparticles, resulting in the creation of novel, eco-friendly catalysts for a variety of organic reactions.