Highly active organosilane-based N-heterocyclic carbene-palladium complex immobilized on silica particles for the Suzuki reaction

1-Methyl-3-(3-trimethoxysilylpropyl)imidazolium chloride, [TMSPIM][Cl-], was synthesized as a precursor of N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC), which can be coordinated with palladium to give an organosilane-based bidentic NHC-Pd complex. The organosilane-based NHC-Pd complex was immobilized covalently on silica particles (NHC-Pd/silica) and then characterized by field emission/scanning electron microscopy (FE/SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIRS), and inductively coupled plasma/atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP/AES). The Suzuki reaction was performed as a model reaction to examine the catalytic activity of NHC-Pd/silica. NHC-Pd/silica exhibited excellent performance in the Suzuki reaction of various aryl halide derivatives (except for aryl chloride derivatives) with phenylboronic acid under mild conditions (room temperature and short reaction time). Moreover, the catalyst was recycled several times without any significant loss of catalytic activity in the Suzuki reaction.