Catecholic Chemistry To Obtain Recyclable and Reusable Hybrid Polymeric Particles as Catalytic Systems

A straightforward approach was proposed to decorate gold nanoparticles onto recyclable supports based on magnetite/polymer composite materials for highly efficient catalysis. Cross-linked particles bearing a controllable content of catechol active residues were synthesized by precipitation polymerization of mussel inspired monomer, dopamine methacrylamide, and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate. The magnetite nanoparticles were also surface modified with dopamine derivatives to introduce vinyl or catechol groups. Then, the magnetite nanoparticles with vinyl groups were incorporated inside of the polymeric particles forming a magnetic core during the precipitation polymerization. As an alternative pathway to achieve these efficient catalytic systems, magnetic nanoparticles functionalized with dopamine were immobilized at the surface of the polymeric particles via Michael addition. Then, catechol redox chemistry was used to form and anchor gold nanoparticles on the surface of both synthesized magnetic supports. Subsequently, we investigated the catalytic activity and reusability of the magnetic composite catalysts toward the reduction of 4-nitrophenol to 4-aminophenol by sodium borohydride. The systems with high gold content undergo great catalytic performance. Besides, the prepared catalysts can be easily recovered from the reaction mixture and reused several times.