A novel, environmentally friendly procedure has been developed for the synthesis of quinoxaline derivatives in the presence of magnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles. The reaction between 1,2-diamines and 1,2-dicarbonyl compounds was carried out in water to afford quinoxaline derivatives in high yield. The catalyst can be recovered by the use of an external magnet and reused for five cycles with almost consistent activity.
WEPA, a waste biomass-derived catalyst, was used to synthesize quinoxalines from aryl/heteroaryl 1,2-diamines and α-hydroxy ketones