OICC Press Iranian Journal of Catalysis 2345-4865 9 1 2024 02 25 Novel and cost-effective biocatalyst consisting of nanofibrillated cellulose and TiCl3 for the synthesis of 2,3′-dihydroquinazolin-4-(1H)-ones EN Hannaneh Heidari Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Physics and Chemistry, Alzahra University. P.O. Box 1993893973, Tehran, Iran. Kobra Nikoofar Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Physics & Chemistry, Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran Yeganeh Shahedi Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Physics and Chemistry, Alzahra University. P.O. Box 1993893973, Tehran, Iran. Journal Article 2024 02 25 A novel and cost-effective catalyst for synthesis of 2,3'-dihydroquinazolin-4-(1H)-ones was developed utilizing a combined nanocomposite obtained from bonding TiCl3 to hydroxyl groups of nanofibrillated cellulose as a green and inexpensive support.The structure of the catalyst was investigated using the Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), field emission scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) techniques and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The prepared new nanopolymer-based composite has been investigated successfully to obtain some 2,3'-dihydroquinazolin-4-(1H)-ones via the reaction of 2-aminobenzamide and various kinds of aldehydes/ cyclic ketones in refluxing ethanol. Short reaction times, the low amount of catalyst, high yields of products, utilizing a wide-range of aldehydes/ ketones, easy work-up procedure, in addition to the accelerating effect of the newly synthesized biodegradable nano composite, are some highlighted features of the reported protocol.