Palladium supported on a magnetic microgel: an efficient and recyclable catalyst for Suzuki and Heck reactions in water

A novel heterogeneous Pd catalyst was synthesized by anchoring palladium(II) onto poly(undecylenic acid-co-N-isopropylacrylamide-co-potassium 4-acryloxyoylpyridine-2,6-dicarboxylate)-coated Fe3O4 (Fe3O4@PUNP) magnetic microgel. The catalyst (Fe3O4@PUNP-Pd) was characterized by FT-IR, TEM, VSM, XRD and XPS, and the loading level of Pd in Fe3O4@PUNP-Pd catalyst was measured to be 0.330 mmol g(-1) by AAS. This catalyst exhibits excellent catalytic activity for the Suzuki and Heck reactions in water. In addition, the Fe3O4@PUNP-Pd catalyst can be easily separated and recovered with an external permanent magnet, and the reuse experiment shows that it can be used consecutively six times without significant loss in catalytic activity.