ORIENTAL JOURNAL OF CHEMISTRY www.orientjchem.org An International Open Free Access, Peer Reviewed Research Journal ISSN: 0970-020 X CODEN: OJCHEG 2017, Vol. 33, No. (4): Pg.1736-1743 Calcium ferrite, an efficient catalyst for knoevenagel condensation(A green approach) PARVEEN PIPPAL and PRABAL PRATAP SINGH* Department of Chemistry, GLA University, 17 km stone, NH-2 Delhi-Mathura highway, Chaumuhan Mathura, 281406 (U.P.) India. *Corresponding author Email: prabal.singh@gla.ac.in http://dx.doi.org/10.13005/ojc/330418 (Received: May 25, 2017; Accepted: July 07, 2017) ABSTRACT Calcium ferrite NPs catalyst have been used as a cheaper and highly efficient catalyst for Knoevenagel condensation of active methylene substrate with various carbonyl compounds affording condensed products in excellent yields in shorter reaction time. The developed greener protocol is very simple, involving cleaner work up and the synthesized products do not require further purification. The catalyst can easily be removed and reused at least for four times without any appreciable change in reactivity. Keywords: Knoevenagel condensation; Calcium ferrite; Ethylcyanoacetate; Malononitrile; Reusable catalyst. INTRODUCTION Knoevenagel condensation is a very useful reaction in organic chemistry known for its synthetic utility in carbon carbon bond formation 1 and their enormous applications particularly in fine chemicals 2 and therapeutic and pharmacological products 3-5 . The condensation reaction is generally performed by using stoichiometric or catalytic amounts of ammonia, primary and secondary amines, pyridine, piperadine 6 dimethylamino 7-10 Al 2 O 3 11 , SmI 3 12 , CdCl 2 13 , LaCl 3 14 , ZnCl 2 15 , Zeolite 16 , ZnCl 4 -SiO 2 17 , fluorapatite 18 , hydroxyapatite 19 , metal oxides 20 , ionic liquids like [Bmim]Cl.xAlCl 3 21 , [MMIm][MSO 4 ] 22 , ethylenediammonium diacetate in ionic liquids 23 , hydrotalcite in ionic liquids 24 , mesoporous organosilica supported potassium carbonate (BPMO-IL-KCO 3 ) 25 , UiO-66-NH 2 26 . In addition, there are certain reports on the use of electrochemical induced, microwave and ultra sound irradiation methods for Knoevenagel condensation 27-28 . Recently nano particles like BaAl 2 O 3 29 , Fe 3 O 4 @SiO 2 30 , P4VP/Al 2 O 3 -SiO 2 31 , Nitridated KCC-1 32 , amine functionalized PAN 33 , Pd(0) 34 has been reported to catalyze the Knoevenagel condensation reaction. Various MOF 35-37 has also been tried to catalyze the above reaction. However these methods suffer from disadvantages such as unsatisfactory yields, long reaction times, stoichiometric amount of catalyst, harsh reaction conditions, use of hazardous