Chitosan-EDTA-Cellulose bio-based network: A recyclable multifunctional organocatalyst for green and expeditious synthesis of Hantzsch esters

•Novel cellulose grafted to chitosan by EDTA (Cs-EDTA-Cell) material was prepared.•The CS-EDTA-cell network was found to be more thermally stable than its components.•The multifunctional CS-EDTA-Cell network was used as catalyst for the Hantzsch reaction.•Low catalyst loading, high yields and short reaction times are advantages of this method.•The catalyst demonstrated excellent reusability and can be used at least for five runs. The cellulose grafted to chitosan by ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (Cs-EDTA-Cell) material was prepared and characterized by different spectroscopic, microscopic or analytical methods and techniques including Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and ultraviolet–visible diffuse reflectance (UV–Vis-DRS) spectroscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), and X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) as well as Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area, thermogravimetric, and differential thermal analysis. The obtained Cs-EDTA-Cell network was found to be more thermally stable than its original carbohydrate polymers components. The bio-based Cs-EDTA-Cell network contains appropriate acidic and basic active sites with proper geometry to act as a multifunctional organocatalyst at nanoscale. The synergic effect of Cs-EDTA-Cell network components were demonstrated to promote multicomponent synthesis of polyhydroquinoline and 1,8-dioxo-decahydroacridine derivatives under green and environmentally-benign conditions. A large number of fused Hantzsch esters were synthesized using low catalyst loading, in high to excellent yields, short reaction times, and simple work-up procedure. Furthermore, the Cs-EDTA-Cell network, as a heterogeneous catalyst, demonstrated excellent reusability and can be used at least for five consecutive runs without significant loss of its activity.