Deconvoluting Substrates, Support, and Temperature Effects on Leaching and Deactivation of Pd Catalysts: An In Situ Study in Flow

Leaching behavior of three different Pd heterogeneous catalysts (PdEnCat 30, FibreCat FC1001, and Pd/Al2O3) during the Heck reaction of iodobenzene and methyl acrylate, in the presence of triethylamine, was compared using a tandem flow reactor. While leaching was observed in all three cases, Pd/Al2O3 appeared to be the most robust, showing little/no leaching at ambient temperature. The leached Pd species also appear to display different catalytic activities. With a slight modification of the reactor, the leaching caused by individual components of the reaction mixture can be assessed separately. For the polymer-supported catalysts, triethylamine caused the largest amount of leaching, even at 30 °C. In contrast, the leaching from Pd/Al2O3 was observed only in the presence of iodobenzene at 90 °C. Variations in leaching behavior were ascribed to differences in Pd species and immobilization methods.

An Unusual Microdomain Factor Controls Interaction of Organic Halides with the Palladium Phase and Influences Catalytic Activity in the Mizoroki-Heck Reaction

In this work, using a combination of scanning and transmission electron microscopy (SEM and TEM), the transformations of palladium-containing species in imidazolium ionic liquids in reaction mixtures of the Mizoroki-Heck reaction and in related organic media are studied to understand a challenging question of the relative reactivity of organic halides as key substrates in modern catalytic technologies. The microscopy technique detects the formation of a stable nanosized palladium phase under the action of an aryl (Ar) halide capable of forming microcompartments in an ionic liquid. For the first time, the correlation between the reactivity of the aryl halide and the microdomain structure is observed: Ar-I (well-developed microdomains) > Ar-Br (microphase present) > Ar-Cl (minor amount of microphase). Previously, it is assumed that molecular level factors, namely, carbon-halogen bond strength and the ease of bond breakage, are the sole factors determining the reactivity of aryl halides in catalytic transformations. The present work reports a new factor connected with the nature of the organic substrates used and their ability to form a microdomain structure and concentrate metallic species, highlighting the importance of considering both the molecular and microscale properties of the reaction mixtures.

Disclosing the leaching behaviour of Pd@CMK3 catalysts in formic acid decomposition by electron tomography

Supported nanocatalysts exhibit different performances in batch and fixed bed reactors for a wide range of liquid phase catalytic reactions due to differences in metal leaching. To investigate this leaching process and its influence on the catalytic performance, a quantitative 3D characterization of the particle size and the particle distribution is important to follow the structural evolution of the active metal catalysts supported on porous materials during the reaction. In this work, electron tomography has been applied to uncover leaching and redeposition of a Pd@CMK3 catalyst during formic acid decomposition in batch and fixed bed reactors. The 3D distribution of Pd NPs on the mesoporous carbon CMK3 has been determined by a quantitative tomographic analysis and the determined structural changes are correlated with the observed differences in activity and stability of formic acid decomposition using batch and fixed bed reactors.

C(sp3 )-H Arylation Promoted by a Heterogeneous Palladium-N-Heterocyclic Carbene Complex in Batch and Continuous Flow

A heterogeneous reusable palladium(II)-bis(N-heterocyclic carbene) catalyst was prepared and shown to catalyze the intramolecular C(sp³ )-H activation/cyclization of N-alkyl-2-bromoanilines furnishing indolines. This new catalytic system was based on a bis-imidazolium ligand immobilized on a spaced cross-linked polystyrene support. The iodide ligands on the catalyst played a central role in the efficiency of the process occurring through a "release and catch" mechanism. The heterogeneous nature of the catalyst was further exploited in the design of a continuous-flow protocol that allowed a more efficient recovery and reuse of the catalyst, as well as a very fast and safe procedure.

Revealing the Structure Evolution of Heterogeneous Pd Catalyst in Suzuki Reaction via the Identical Location Transmission Electron Microscopy

The mechanism of palladium nanoparticles (Pd NPs)-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions has been the subject of intense debate since the recognition of catalytic active sites involving a wide array of dynamic changed Pd species. Here, through the combination of the hot filtration experiment together with the recently developed identical location transmission electron microscopy (IL-TEM) method, the delicate structure evolution of highly dispersed Pd NPs supported on oxygen-functionalized carbon nanotubes (Pd/oCNTs) as well as the kinetics properties of derived dissolved species in liquid phase were systemically investigated in the Suzuki-Miyaura reaction. The result indicates that the leached Pd components caused by the strong adsorption of reactants might have a significant contribution to the coupling products, and the degree for different substrates follows the order of iodobenzene > phenylboronic acid > bromobenzene. Meanwhile, the typical three sequential behaviors of supported Pd NPs, including dissolution, deposition, and growth, along with the increase of the conversion throughout the reaction were spatiotemporally observed by tracking the evolution of individually identifiable NPs. The performed work not only provides direct evidence for the interaction between Pd NPs surface with reactants on atomic scale but also gives a valuable reference for fundamentally understanding the mechanism of the heterogeneous Pd-catalyzed Suzuki coupling process as well as rational design of next-generation catalysts with high efficiency and reusability for synthetic applications.

Towards high-performance heterogeneous palladium nanoparticle catalysts for sustainable liquid-phase reactions

A walk-through of nanoparticle–reactant/product, nanoparticle–support and support–reactant/product interaction effects on the catalytic performance of heterogeneous palladium catalysts in liquid-phase reactions.