Palladium nanoparticles supported on magnetic copper ferrite nanoparticles: The synergistic effect of palladium and copper for cyanation of aryl halides with K4[Fe(CN)6]

In this paper, for the first time, palladium nanoparticles were supported on (3-aminopropyl) triethoxysilane-modified copper ferrite nanoparticles. The obtained catalyst was characterized using FT-IR, TEM, EDX, AAS, XRD, and TGA analyses. The prepared heterogeneous catalyst showed superior activity toward cyanation of aryl iodides and bromides with K-4[Fe(CN)(6)] compared to the Fe3O4 supported palladium nanoparticles, unfunctionalized CuFe2O4 nanoparticles, homogeneous Pd(OAc)(2), CuCl2, and CuI catalysts. The heterogeneous and low Pd loading catalyst was recycled for four consecutive runs with small drops in catalytic activity. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.