100
Bull. Chem. Soc. Jpn. Vol. 84, No. 1, 100–109 (2011)
© 2011 The Chemical Society of Japan
Palladium Nanoparticles Supported on Aminopropyl-Functionalized
Clay as Efficient Catalysts for Phosphine-Free C-C Bond Formation
via Mizoroki-Heck and Suzuki-Miyaura Reactions
Habib Firouzabadi,*1 Nasser Iranpoor,*1 Arash Ghaderi,1 Maryam Ghavami,1 and S. Jafar Hoseini2
1Department of Chemistry, College of Sciences, Shiraz University, Shiraz 71454, Iran
2Chemistry Department, College of Sciences, Yasouj University, Yasouj, Iran
Received August 9, 2010; E-mail: firouzabadi@chem.susc.ac.ir
In this study, we have used palladium nanoparticles supported on aminopropyl-functionalized clay as an efficient
catalyst for Mizoroki-Heck and Suzuki-Miyaura reactions. By using this catalyst, the reaction of iodo- and bromoarenes
with n-butyl acrylate and styrene proceeded well and smoothly to produce the desired products in good to excellent yields
under solvent-free conditions. The catalyst has been recycled for ten runs without much loss of its catalytic activity.
Suzuki-Miyaura reaction of structurally different aryl halides (I and Br) with phenylboronic acid by the aid of this catalyst
in refluxing water or SDS micellar solution in the absence of any organic co-solvent was also performed well to give the
desired biphenyl products in good to excellent yields. Production of the corresponding homocoupled products in
negligible amounts was observed in these reactions. In comparison with many other reported palladium-catalyzed
Mizoroki-Heck and Suzuki-Miyaura reactions, the Pd-loading of this catalyst is one of the lowest. In the presence of this
catalyst, all the reactions proceeded without using any external phosphorus ligands.
Construction of carbon-carbon bonds is one of the most
their size-dependent evolution properties.20 Investigators have
focused mainly on identifying new properties and applications
of such materials. Comparing to the corresponding bulk
materials, they can have different heat capacity, vapor pressure,
melting point, optical, magnetic, and electronic properties.20
Also owing to their high surface area, application of these
particles as catalysts results in high concentration of reactive
sites leading to higher reactivity and selectivity.2,21,22 There is
also evidence regarding the involvement of in situ generated Pd
nanoparticles in C-C bond forming reactions under phosphine-
free conditions.23
Palladium nanoparticles of different origins have been
utilized in the Mizoroki-Heck and Suzuki-Miyaura arylation
reactions with variable degrees of success.2,21,24-27 Moreover,
the immobilization of palladium onto clay28-30 and zeolites31,32
and their applications in the carbon-carbon bond formation
reactions have been reported. Some palladium catalysts which
are supported on carbon,33 carbon nanotubes,34 different metal
oxides,2,21 silica gel and modified silica gel,35 fluorous silica,27
molecular sieves,36 and so forth are also reported.
The current challenge for developing palladium catalysts
which work in the presence of inexpensive and reusable ligands
or beds is a research area of much interest to chemists from
academia and industries. The role of supports and ligands is to
stabilize the zero-valent palladium and also to minimize the
aggregation of the naked palladium clusters37 which causes
inactivation of zero-valent palladium catalyst.38-40
Since the last decade, introduction of functional groups into
clays has been under attention. Very lately Chen et al. reported
a method for the preparation of nanoparticles of palladium into
montmorillonite modified with quaternary ammonium surfac-
demanding topics in organic synthesis.1-3 In general, transition-
metal-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions are accompanied with
higher yields and selectivity in comparison with many main-
group metals used as catalysts.4 Among the many procedures
reported in the literature, Mizoroki-Heck and Suzuki-Miyaura
reactions are of the most powerful tools for this purpose.5-8
In general, Mizoroki-Heck reaction has been performed
in different media such as organic solvents,9 ionic liquids,10
CO2,11 and water.12 However, less attention has been paid to
perform this reaction under solvent-free conditions,13,14 al-
though it is more environmentally friendly and economically
profitable. Very recently, a solvent-free Mizoroki-Heck reac-
tion has been reported in the presence of palladium catalyst
supported on 1,1,3,3-tetramethylguanidinium (TMG)-modified
molecular sieve Santa Barbara (SBA-15) or SBA-TMG at
140 °C. By the aid of this catalyst, only the reaction of aryl
iodides with olefins has been reported.15
Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling reaction is a highly practical
and simple method for the synthesis of biaryls, which are found
in natural products, pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, etc.16 So,
improvement of the present methods is always welcome by
industries and academia. Recently, development of organic
synthesis in aqueous media has attracted a great deal of interest
due to the low cost, nontoxicity, abundance, safety, and
nonflammability of water and easy phase separation between
organic compounds and water are the advantages of using
water as the reaction media.17-19
Nowadays, attention has been paid to the use of nano-
particles in comparison with the corresponding bulk materials,
because of their potential applications in a variety of fields and