Nanopalladium on Amino-Functionalized Mesocellular Foam: An Efficient Catalyst for Suzuki Reactions and Transfer Hydrogenations

The applications of a heterogeneous Pd0-AmP-MCF nanoparticle catalyst in Suzuki cross-coupling reactions and transfer hydrogenations of alkenes are described. The catalyst was highly efficient for both transformations, resulting in 1)coupling of a wide range of aryl halides with various boronic acids in high yields and 2)chemoselective reduction of a variety of alkenes with the use of 1-methyl-1,4-cyclohexadiene as hydrogen donor. Moreover, the catalyst can be recycled several times without any significant decrease in activity or leaching of metal into solution, making the protocol economical and environmentally friendly. In the case of the Suzuki cross-coupling, a 15-fold increase in reaction rate was observed if the reaction was performed under microwave irradiation compared to conventional heating in an oil bath.