Indones. J. Chem., 2018, 18 (4), 639 - 646 Behrooz Maleki et al. 639 * Corresponding author. Tel : +98-51-4002643 Email address : b.maleki@hsu.ac.ir DOI: 10.22146/ijc.33062 One-Pot-Multicomponent Synthesis of 2,6-Diamino-4-arylpyridine-3,5-dicarbonitrile Derivatives Using Nanomagnetic Fe3O4@SiO2@ZnCl2 Behrooz Maleki 1,* , Hadi Natheghi 1 , Vahid Sokhanvaran 2 , and Samaneh Sedigh Ashrafi 1 1 Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Sciences, Hakim Sabzevari University, Sabzevar 96179-76487, Iran 2 Faculty of Basic Sciences, University of Neyshabur, Neyshabur, Iran Received February 4, 2018; Accepted July 24, 2018 ABSTRACT Nanomagnetic Fe3O4@SiO2@ZnCl2 was used as a simple, cost-effective, and reusable heterogeneous catalyst for the synthesis of 2,6-diamino-4-arylpyridine-3,5-dicarbonitriles by a one-pot-three-component condensation reaction of malononitrile, ammonium acetate, and aldehydes under solvent-free conditions at 110 °C. Simple and mild reaction conditions, facile preparation of the catalyst, the use of a cheap catalyst and easy workup and isolation are notable features of this method. Keywords: 2,6-diamino-4-arylpyridine-3,5-dicarbonitriles; nano magnetic Fe3O4@SiO2@ZnCl2; green chemistry; multicomponent reaction ABSTRAK Nanomagnetik Fe3O4@SiO2@ZnCl2 digunakan sebagai katalis sederhana, hemat biaya, dan merupakan katalis heterogen yang dapat digunakan kembali untuk sintesis 2,6-diamino-4-arilpiridin-3,5-dikarbonitril melalui reaksi kondensasi tiga komponen one-pot antara malononitril, amonium asetat, dan aldehida dengan kondisi tanpa pelarut pada temperatur 110 °C. Kondisi reaksi yang sederhana dan ringan, persiapan katalis yang mudah, penggunaan katalis yang murah dan mudah dilakukan serta mudah diisolasi adalah aspek yang penting dari metode ini. Kata Kunci: 2,6-diamino-4-arilpiridin-3,5-dikarbonitril; nano magnetik Fe3O4@SiO2@ZnCl2; kimia hijau; reaksi multi- komponen INTRODUCTION In recent years, magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs), have proven to be valuable assets in organic chemistry. In this field of research, several studies have been carried out on their biological and technological applications such as drug delivery [1-2], magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) [3], bioseparation [4-5] bimolecular sensors [6-7] and magneto-thermal therapy [8-9]. Recent reports show that magnetic nanoparticles are efficient supports which can facilitate the isolation and recycling of expensive catalysts from the reaction media [10-12]. Construction of functionalized N-heterocycles utilizing Multicomponent reaction (MCR) strategy has evolved as a new synthetic tool [13-15]. N-containing heterocycles show a vast abundance of numerous natural products and several biologically active pharmaceuticals. Among the all heteroaromatic compounds, polysubstituted pyridines are unrivaled and also considered as “privileged medicinal scaffolds” because they are partial structures of many natural products, pharmaceuticals, and synthetic organic moieties [16-21]. Recently, pyridine-3,5-dicarbonitriles have displayed several applications in medicinal fields. 2,6- Diamino-4-arylpyridine-3,5-dicarbonitrile derivatives present cytotoxic properties against A-549, P-388, HT- 29, and MEL-28 tumoral cell lines, the capability of very potent inhibitors of histamine release [22]. Their applications as electrical materials [23], nonlinear optical materials [24], fluorescent liquid crystals [25], and chelating agents in metal-ligand chemistry [26] are considered very important. On the other hand, the 2- aminopyridine structural motif exists in several significant biologically active compounds [27-30]. Preparation of 2,6-diamino-4-arylpyridine-3,5- dicarbonitriles can be carried out by multicomponent reaction of aldehydes, malononitrile, and amines or ammonia [31-35] such as the reaction of amines with a 6-chloro substituent of 2-amino-4-phenyl-pyridine-3,5- dicarbonitrile [36-37], usage of 3-amino-3-ethoxyacrylo nitrile (ethyl 2-cyanoacetimidate) [38-39] and (trimethoxy methyl)benzene [40]. Accordingly, discovery and development of an efficient process to obtain new derivatives of these compounds are still desirable for the