Palladium supported on zinc ferrite: A highly active, magnetically separable catalyst for ligand free Suzuki and Heck coupling

An efficient superparamagnetic solid catalyst has been synthesized by loading Pd(0) species during synthesis of zinc ferrite nanoparticles by ultrasound assisted co-precipitation in the absence of surface stabilizer or capping agent. Various techniques were employed to characterize the as-synthesized Pd-ZnFe2O4 magnetic nanoparticles. The catalyst showed excellent performance for Suzuki and Heck coupling reactions under ligand free condition. The catalyst being super paramagnetic was separated by using an external magnet and reused for five cycles without any appreciable loss in the activity. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.