Organo functionalized graphene with Pd nanoparticles and its excellent catalytic activity for Suzuki coupling reaction

Synthesis of well distributed palladium nanoparticles (3-7 nm) on organo di-amine functionalized graphene is reported, which demonstrated excellent catalytic activity for Suzuki coupling reaction. Organo functionalized graphene support acted as an excellent host which helped in avoiding "Ostwald ripening" i.e., preventing palladium nanoparticle sintering and because of which the catalyst as a whole showed excellent catalytic activity for Suzuki coupling reaction. The catalytic material was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transfer infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Raman spectra, X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS), and Scanning electron microscope (SEM), Transmittance electron microscopy (TEM) analysis. FT-IR revealed that the organic amine functional group was successfully grafted onto the graphene oxide surface. The formation of palladium nanoparticles was confirmed by XPS techniques. The catalytic activity in the coupling reaction using idobenzene was superb with 100% conversion and 98% yield and also activity remained almost unaltered up to six cycles. Typically, an extremely high turnover frequency of 185,078 h-1 or 3,084.64 min-1 is observed in the C-C Suzuki coupling reaction using organo di-amine functionalized graphene as catalyst. Experiments were also conducted under identical conditions to prove heterogeneity of the catalyst. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.