ORIGINAL PAPER MnO 2 @Zeolite-Y Nanoporous: Preparation and Application as a High Efficient Catalyst for Multi-Component Synthesis of 4-Arylidene-Isoxazolidinones Mehdi Kalhor 1 & Sima Samiei 1 & Seyed Ahmad Mirshokraie 1 Received: 19 May 2019 /Accepted: 7 February 2020 # Springer Nature B.V. 2020 Abstract In this project, nano-MnO 2 @zeolite-Y (NMOZ) was successfully prepared via hydrothermal technique and its structure was confirmed using FT-IR, XRD, FE-SEM, EDX and BET analyses. MnO 2 nanoparticles stabilized on zeolite-NaY were used as nanocatalyst for efficient solventless preparation of 3,4-disubstituted isoxazole-5(4H)-one scaffolds via one-pot three-component reaction of ethyl acetoacetate, hydroxylamine hydrochloride, and aromatic aldehydes at 100 °C. One of the advantages of this new method is the non-use of a metal oxidant such as KMnO 4 (greener method) and the stabilization of MnO 2 to the zeolite-Y surface via ion bonding. This causes the MnO 2 not be leached from the zeolite during the processes of nanocatalyst recycling in organic reactions. This simple approach also has promising features as like as safe, inexpensive and recyclable nanocatalyst, solvent-free reaction, short reaction times, high to excellent yields, and easy isolation of the products. Keywords MnO 2 nanoparticles . Aluminosilicate zeolite-NaY . Nanocatalyst . One-pot synthesis . Solvent-free reaction . Isoxazole 1 Introduction Recently, nanoporous materials including ordered mesopo- rous silica, zeolites, and metal–organic frameworks have attracted increasing interest because of their applications in petrochemical industry, environmental technologies and cata- lytic chemical reactions [1, 2]. The main features of the porous compounds are high adsorption capacity, uniform channels and cavities, active sites with different strengths, and electron- ic properties. Among nanoporous materials, the aluminosili- cate zeolites have considered as heterogeneous catalysts or suitable supports for homogeneous catalysts and nanoparticles due to their high surface area, high thermal stability, nanoporous crystalline structure, persistence in all organic sol- vents, nontoxic and environmentally safe, low-cost handling, less or no corrosion, easy set-up of continuous processes, etc. [3–7]. On the other hand, nanoparticles are of great scientific interest as they are powerful nanocatalysts in various organic synthesis, because of its unique properties such as high surface area, chemical inertness, small crystallite sizes, and higher number of active sites [8]. In addition, nano MnO 2 has various applications in different fields such as catalysts [9, 10], ab- sorption of toxic metals [11], molecular and ion-sieves [12], oxidase [13], component of the dry cell [14], pigment in ce- ramics, electrodes for super capacitors [15] and for electro- chemical batteries (lithium, magnesium, sodium) [16, 17]. But there is a fundamental problem for nanoparticles in cata- lytic reactions. Nanoparticles are readily agglomerated in the reaction environment and their catalytic efficiency decreases. To solve this problem, the nanoparticles are stabilized on an ideal support [8]. In this regard, so far, a few researches have been reported about supported MnO 2 particles on the zeolite (in micro- dimensions as extruded composites) [18–21]. Isoxazole and its derivatives are azoles with an oxygen atom next to the nitrogen in their structure which is used in a variety of contexts, such as organic synthesis, liquid crystalline compounds [22], filter dyes in photographic materials [23], light-conversion molecular systems [24], opti- cal storages and nonlinear optical research films [25]. Moreover, these compounds are used as antibiotic, insecticide, fungicide and herbicide (Fig. 1)[26]. One of the most widely used isoxazole derivatives are 3,4-disubstituted isoxazole- 5(4 H)-ones which have considerable active role as: * Mehdi Kalhor mekalhor@gmail.com 1 Department of Chemistry, University of Payame Noor, P.O. BOX 19395-4697, Tehran, Iran Silicon https://doi.org/10.1007/s12633-020-00413-5