Sonochemical syntheses of xanthene derivatives using zeolite-supported transition metal catalysts in aqueous media Kazem D. Safa 1 • Elham Taheri 1 • Maryam Allahvirdinesbat 1 • Aligholi Niaei 2 Received: 20 May 2015 / Accepted: 24 July 2015 Ó Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2015 Abstract An efficient green method for the syntheses of biologically active xanthene derivatives by use of zeolite-supported transition metal catalysts is described. A Fe-Cu/ZSM-5 heterogeneous catalyst has the highest activity in the one-pot syntheses with a wide range of aldehydes and cyclic 1,3-diketones, under ultrasonic irradiation in water at ambient temperatures. The three-component con- densation in the presence of supported metal catalysts is operationally simple, requires no expensive or toxic reagents, and gives high yields in short reaction times. Keywords Xanthenes Á Fe-Cu/ZSM-5 Á Ultrasonic irradiation Á MCRs Á Supported catalyst Á Water Introduction In green chemistry, which covers all chemical processes that minimize the use and generation of substances injurious to human health [1], catalysis is a key area. The use of metal oxides supported on various inorganic solid supports has attracted wide attention [2]. Zeolites, such as Cu-modified HY, H-USY, H-Beta, mordenite, and ZSM-5 [4], have been used in the synthesis of specialty and fine chemicals because Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s11164-015-2192- 1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. & Kazem D. Safa dsafa@tabrizu.ac.ir 1 Organosilicon Research Laboratory, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Tabriz, Tabriz 5166614766, Iran 2 Department of Applied Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Tabriz, Tabriz 5166614766, Iran 123 Res Chem Intermed DOI 10.1007/s11164-015-2192-1