One-Pot Multistep Cascade Reactions over Multifunctional Nanocomposites with Pd Nanoparticles Supported on Amine-Modified Mesoporous Silica

Palladium and Copper: Advantageous Nanocatalysts for Multi-Step Transformations

Metal nanoparticles have been deeply studied in the last few decades due to their attractive physical and chemical properties, finding a wide range of applications in several fields. Among them, well-defined nano-structures can combine the main advantages of heterogeneous and homogeneous catalysts. Especially, catalyzed multi-step processes for the production of added-value chemicals represent straightforward synthetic methodologies, including tandem and sequential reactions that avoid the purification of intermediate compounds. In particular, palladium- and copper-based nanocatalysts are often applied, becoming a current strategy in the sustainable synthesis of fine chemicals. The rational tailoring of nanosized materials involving both those immobilized on solid supports and liquid phases and their applications in organic synthesis are herein reviewed.

Porous Silica-Based Organic-Inorganic Hybrid Catalysts: A Review

Hybrid organic-inorganic catalysts have been extensively investigated by several research groups in the last decades, as they allow combining the structural robust-ness of inorganic solids with the versatility of organic chemistry. Within the field of hybrid catalysts, synthetic strategies based on silica are among the most exploitable, due to the convenience of sol-gel chemistry, to the array of silyl-derivative precursors that can be synthesized and to the number of post-synthetic functionalization strategies available, amongst others. This review proposes to highlight these advantages, firstly describing the most common synthetic tools and the chemistry behind sol-gel syntheses of hybrid catalysts, then presenting exemplificative studies involving mono- and multi-functional silica-based hybrid catalysts featuring different types of active sites (acid, base, redox). Materials obtained through different approaches are described and their properties, as well as their catalytic performances, are compared. The general scope of this review is to gather useful information for those approaching the synthesis of organic-inorganic hybrid materials, while providing an overview on the state-of-the art in the synthesis of such materials and highlighting their capacities.

Double-shelled hollow mesoporous silica nanospheres as an acid–base bifunctional catalyst for cascade reactions

Double-shelled hollow mesoporous silica nanospheres as an acid–base bifunctional catalyst for cascade reactions.

Positional immobilization of Pd nanoparticles and enzymes in hierarchical yolk–shell@shell nanoreactors for tandem catalysis

A hierarchical yolk–shell@shell nanoreactor that spatially positioned Pd nanoparticles and the CALB enzyme in separated domains is constructed, and served as an efficient bifunctional catalyst for the one-pot dynamic kinetic resolution (DKR) reaction of 1-phenylethylamine with excellent activity and selectivity.

Immobilization of Metal-Organic Framework Nanocrystals for Advanced Design of Supported Nanocatalysts

In recent years, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have been employed as heterogeneous catalysts or precursors for synthesis of catalytic materials. However, conventional MOFs and their derivatives usually exhibit limited mass transfer and modest catalytic activities owing to a lengthy diffusion path and less exposed active sites. In contrast, it has been generally conceived that nanoscale MOFs are beneficial to materials utilization and mass transport, but their instability poses a serious issue to practical application. To tackle above challenges, herein we develop a novel and facile approach to the design and synthesis of nanocomposites through in situ growth and directed immobilization of nanoscale MOFs onto layered double hydroxides (LDH). The resulting supported nano-MOFs inherit advantages of pristine MOF nanocrystals and meanwhile gain enhanced stability and workability under reactive environments. A series of uniform nanometer-sized MOFs, including monometallic (ZIF-8, ZIF-67, and Cu-BTC) and bimetallic (CoZn-ZIF), can be readily synthesized onto hierarchically structured flowerlike MgAl-LDH supports with high dispersion and precision. Additionally, the resultant MgAl-LDH/MOFs can serve as a generic platform to prepare integrated nanocatalysts via controlled thermolysis. Knoevenagel condensation and reduction of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) are used as model reactions for demonstrating the technological merits of these nanocatalysts. Therefore, this work elucidates that the synthetic immobilization of nanoscale MOFs onto conventional catalyst supports is a viable route to develop integrated nanocatalysts with high controllability over structural architecture and chemical composition.

Reductive alkylation of active methylene compounds with carbonyl derivatives, calcium hydride and a heterogeneous catalyst

A one-pot two-step reaction (Knoevenagel condensation - reduction of the double bond) has been developed using calcium hydride as a reductant in the presence of a supported noble metal catalyst. The reaction between carbonyl compounds and active methylene compounds such as methylcyanoacetate, 1,3-dimethylbarbituric acid, dimedone and the more challenging dimethylmalonate, affords the corresponding monoalkylated products in moderate to good yields (up to 83%) with minimal reduction of the starting carbonyl compounds.

Design and fabrication of mesoporous heterogeneous basic catalysts

Recent advances in mesoporous solid bases were reviewed, and fundamental principles of how to fabricate efficient basic catalysts were highlighted.

A core-shell-satellite structured Fe3O4@MS-NH2@Pd nanocomposite: a magnetically recyclable multifunctional catalyst for one-pot multistep cascade reaction sequences

A hierarchical core-shell-satellite structured composite system Fe3O4@MS-NH2@Pd, which was composed of Pd nanoparticles well-dispersed on an amino group functionalized mesoporous silica (MS-NH2) nanosphere, and superparamagnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles scattered inside the silica sphere, was prepared by using a facile procedure. The composite combined the catalytic properties of amino groups and Pd nanoparticles with superparamagnetic properties of magnetite into a single platform. This integrated nanosystem acted as an efficient magnetically recyclable noble metal-base multifunctional nanocatalyst and showed excellent catalytic activity, selectivity and stability for the direct synthesis of α-alkylated nitriles under mild conditions through facile one-pot multistep cascade reaction sequences.

Dual application of Pd nanoparticles supported on mesoporous silica SBA-15 and MSU-2: supported catalysts for C–C coupling reactions and cytotoxic agents against human cancer cell lines

Pd nanoparticles have been supported onto SBA-15 and MSU-2 and present interesting catalytic and cytotoxic properties.

Pd nanoparticle concentration dependent self-assembly of Pd@SiO2 nanoparticles into leaching resistant microcubes

Leaching resistant Pd–SiO₂ microcubes are obtained by self-assembly of Pd@SiO₂ nanoparticles only above a threshold ≥0.2 wt% Pd.