Abstract
Microorganisms produce metal nanoparticles (MNPs) upon exposure to toxic metal ions. However, the catalytic activity of biosynthesised MNPs remains underexplored, despite the potential of these biological processes to be used for the sustainable recovery of critical metals, including palladium. Herein we report that biogenic palladium nanoparticles generated by the sulfate-reducing bacterium Desulfovibrio alaskensis G20 catalyse the ligand-free Suzuki Miyaura reaction of abiotic substrates. The reaction is highly efficient (>99% yield, 0.5 mol% Pd), occurs under mild conditions (37 °C, aqueous media) and can be accelerated within biocompatible micelles at the cell membrane to yield products containing challenging biaryl bonds. This work highlights how native metabolic processes in anaerobic bacteria can be combined with green chemical technologies to produce highly efficient catalytic reactions for use in sustainable organic synthesis.
Highlights
Scheme 1 Approaches to the Suzuki Miyaura cross-coupling reactions in TPGS micelles using chemically synthesised or biogenic palladium nanoparticles.Paper genic Pd nanoparticles generated by Desulfovibrio alaskensis G20 are highly active catalysts for the ligand-free Suzuki Miyaura cross-coupling reaction under ambient conditions
The reaction has broad scope, can be dramatically accelerated within membrane associated TPGS micelles and outperforms other heterogeneous NP catalysts generated microbially or via chemical synthesis. This suggests a unique feature of the metal reduction pathway in Desulfovibrio spp. that is especially suited to the generation of highly active metal nanoparticles (MNPs) catalysts for use in organic synthesis (Scheme 1)
We have demonstrated that Pd0 nanoparticles synthesised by Desulfovibrio alaskensis are highly active heterogeneous catalysts for the Suzuki Miyaura reaction of aryl bromides and phenylboronic acids
Summary
Scheme 1 Approaches to the Suzuki Miyaura cross-coupling reactions in TPGS micelles using chemically synthesised or biogenic palladium nanoparticles. Paper genic Pd nanoparticles generated by Desulfovibrio alaskensis G20 are highly active catalysts for the ligand-free Suzuki Miyaura cross-coupling reaction under ambient conditions. The water-soluble ligands sSPhos 7 and AmPyol 8 decreased the yield 2–3-fold, despite being widely used to enhance the reactivity of Pd catalysed reactions in aqueous and/or biological conditions.
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