Mizoroki-Heck coupling reaction on the surface of sepiolite clay-supported Pd/Cu nanoalloy

Well distributed Pd/Cu bimetallic nanoalloy supported on acid-modified sepiolite (ASEP) was prepared via a solvothermal process. The resulting system, Pd/Cu@ASEP, was characterized using spectroscopic data such as FT-IR, XRD, TEM and ICP-AES. The morphology characterization revealed that the crystalline bimetallic particles were dispersed on ASEP as nanoalloys with diameters ranged from 25 to 30 nm. This system was successfully used for ligand-free Mizoroki-Heck coupling in the presence of air, under mild conditions. This method has advantages compared to other systems, such as short reaction times, high yields, facile catalyst and easy separation and reusability of the catalyst. The catalyst was compatible with a variety of aryl and heteraryl iodides, which provides favorable products with good to high yields. Aryl and heteraryl bromides could also be activated for the Mizoroki-Heck reaction using Pd/Cu@ASEP catalyst, with good to moderate yields.