Palladium was supported on superparamagnetic nanoparticles: A magnetically recoverable catalyst for Heck reaction

A novel and high-performance palladium-based catalyst for Heck reaction was prepared easily by the co-precipitation method. The catalyst was characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and atomic absorption spectrophotometry (AAS). The catalyst afforded a fast conversion of the 4-bromonitrobenzene to 4-nitrostilbene at a catalyst loading of 5 mol%, and the efficiency of the catalyst remains unaltered even after 6 repeated cycles. The excellent catalytic performance of the Pd/Fe3O4 catalyst might be attributed to the enhanced synergistic effect between Pd nanoparticles and magnetite. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.