Nicotine functionalized-silica palladium (II) complex: a highly efficient, environmentally benign and recyclable nanocatalyst for C-C bond forming reactions under mild conditions

An environmentally friendly silica-grafted nicotine-based palladium(II) complex was successfully prepared and evaluated for the first time as novel and efficient nanocatalyst in C-C bond forming reactions. Grafted-nicotine in this catalytic system plays an important role, and as an effective ligand and a quaternary ammonium salt demonstrates an efficient stabilizing effect on the Pd(II) species by a synergistic effect of coordination and electrostatic interactions. The catalyst was well characterized by FT-IR, CHN, XRD, TEM, SEM-EDX, ICP and TG analysis, and demonstrated a highly efficient catalytic activity in the reaction system under phosphine-free and low Pd loading conditions, and the coupled products were produced in good to excellent yields. Furthermore, the catalyst can be easily recovered and reused without a significant loss of activity. Copyright (c) 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.