Regenerated cellulose supported palladium composite superfine fibers as an efficient and recyclable catalyst for Suzuki reaction

Palladium cation embedded cellulose acetate/poly(vinyl butyral) composite superfine fibers were successfully fabricated by electrospinning. Then, these composite fibers were treated with hydrazine hydrate/NaOH/ethanol solution to regenerate cellulose from cellulose acetate and poly(vinyl alcohol) from poly(vinyl butyral). Meanwhile, the Pd2+ cations were reduced to Pd0 nanoparticles, which were evenly dispersed inside the fibers. The catalytic performance of these embedded Pd0 nanoparticles were evaluated by Suzuki reaction. The catalysis results show that this novel fibrous catalyst was highly active to catalyze the Suzuki reaction of aromatic iodides and bromides with yields over 90%. Moreover, this fibrous palladium catalyst could be readily recovered and reused for 15 times with little loss of initial catalytic activity. The high catalytic activity can be ascribed to the superfine diameter of fibers while the excellent recyclability can be attributed to the embedment of active palladium species inside the fibers. Therefore, we have developed a facile method to prepare highly active and stable cellulose supported palladium fibrous catalysts.