Catalytic investigation of PdCl2(TDA)2 immobilized on hydrophobic graphite oxide in the hydrogenation of 1-pentyne and the Heck coupling reaction

Abstract

A Pd(II) complex with chloride and tridecylamine ligands (PdCl2(TDA)2) was immobilized on graphite oxide modified with the cationic surfactant octadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (C18TABr). Samples with different Pd loadings were synthesized and tested for the liquid-phase hydrogenation of 1-pentyne and the Heck coupling reactions of styrene–bromobenzene and styrene–iodobenzene. For the hydrogenation of 1-pentyne, the catalytic performance was found to be affected by the pretreatment procedure. For the Heck coupling reactions, the PdCl2(TDA)2/GO samples proved to be highly efficient catalysts. The catalytic activity was found to depend on the Pd loading for both reactions.