Visible light-activated Cu3TiO4 photocatalyst for the one-pot multicomponent synthesis of imidazo-pyrimido acridines

[Display omitted] •Cu3TiO4 photocatalyst was used for the synthesis of acridines.•Visible light was used as a source to synthesize imidazo-pyrimido acridines.•Cu3TiO4 nanoparticles bandgap is ∼2.21 eV.•Recovered photocatalyst was employed in four further runs. Acridines are the most important N-heterocycles for its high availability in medicinal field. In this study, the Cu3TiO4 photocatalyst was used for the synthesis of acridines under visible light irradiation. Cu3TiO4 nanoparticles act as photocatalyst successfully prepared from lemon juice extract and was characterised with the help of various diffraction, morphological, and spectroscopic techniques. From the characterisation techniques, conformation was made for Cu3TiO4 nanoparticles was confirmed and possess high crystalline nature, excellent stability, good emission and absorbing of light properties and chemical states of the compound. The narrow band gap (∼2.21 eV) was used to give more visible light absorbing ability to Cu3TiO4 nanoparticles. The designed photocatalyst having good activity, less reaction time, high yields, and ease to recovery from the reaction mixture. A synthesised acridine was characterised using 1H NMR, 13C NMR, HR-MS, and FTIR analysis. The recovered photocatalyst was employed in four further runs with good yields, indicating the catalyst’s reusability.