Composites of palladium nanoparticles and graphene oxide as a highly active and reusable catalyst for the hydrogenation of nitroarenes

Herein, the composite of palladium nanoparticles and graphene oxide (CPG) has been synthesized by a facile and very efficient method that provided chemical selectivity and high catalytic activity. The synthesized CPG was characterized by several techniques such as transmission and high-resolution electron microscopy (TEM and HR-TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman spectroscopy, and Photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). CPG was tested for selective reduction of nitroarenes at room temperature. After the addition of CPG to the reaction media, catalytic performances were depended upon the cooperative effect of hydrogen activation with Pd nanoparticles, where the lack of electrons favors an excellent performance. Nitroarenes can be bound to the energetically preferred adsorption site for the nitro group in electrically enriched graphene oxide. In addition, the Pd nanoparticles transfer electrons to the graphene oxide which increases the functions of metal and carbon support. CPG exhibits both chemoprotective and high catalytic performance for hydrogenation of nitroarenes at room temperature. Aniline derivatives were obtained with high yields under mild conditions and a practical catalytic system was developed by the use of CPG.