Synthesis of nanoscale palladium catalyst supported on microcapsules containing chitosan/MgAl layered double hydroxide and its applications in mizoroki-heck reactions

In this study, a sustainable, green, highly effective, and easily recoverable heterogeneous catalyst system (Pd-chitosan-MgAl TCH) was developed by depositing palladium nanoparticles onto microcapsules containing chitosan-MgAl layered double hydroxides (chitosan-MgAl LDHs). The structure of the developed Pd-chitosan-MgAl TCH nanocatalyst was illuminated using FT-IR, FE-SEM, EDS, TEM, and XRD techniques. TEM analysis showed that the average particle size of the Pd-chitosan-MgAl TCH catalyst was 6 nm. The catalytic activity of the synthesized Pd-chitosan-MgAl TCH nanocatalyst was investigated as a heterogeneous catalyst in the Mizoroki-Heck cross-coupling reaction. Catalytic tests showed that the Pd-chitosan-MgAl TCH nanocatalyst effectively catalyzed the Mizoroki-Heck reactions between various aryl halides and styrene with reaction yields of 90-98%. Moreover, due to its heterogeneous nature, the Pd-chitosan-MgAl TCH nanocatalyst was successfully recovered from the reaction medium by simple filtration and reused in successive 5 runs with no significant change in its performance and surface morphology.