Ni ion-containing immobilized ionic liquid on magnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles: An effective catalyst for the Heck reaction

In this work, we synthesized Ni2+-containing 1-methyl-3-(3-trimethoxysilylpropyl) imidazolium chloride ionic liquid on magnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles. The catalytic activity of these novel nanocomposites was finally evaluated for the Heck reaction at 100 degrees C, and can be reused after washing without loss in activity. The immobilized ionic liquid catalysts proved to be effective and easily separated from the reaction media by applying an external magnetic field. This procedure has many obvious advantages compared to those reported in the previous literature, including avoidance of the use of the expensive Pd catalysts, mild reaction conditions, high yields, and simplicity of the methodology. (C) 2013 Published by Elsevier Masson SAS on behalf of Academie des sciences.