Abstract
In this report, chitin and chitosan nanocrystals were used as biomass-based supports for Pd nanoparticles (NPs) used as a heterogeneous catalyst for the Heck coupling reaction. By using a one-pot fabrication method, a Pd salt precursor was directly reduced and deposited onto these nanocrystal catalysts. Characterization of these nanocomposites showed disperse Pd NPs on the surfaces of the chitinous nanocrystals. Heck coupling model reactions revealed full product yield in relatively benign conditions, outcompeting the use of other catalysts supported on biomass-based nanomaterials, including cellulose nanocrystals. These initial results show the potential for using chitinous nanomaterials as effective catalyst supports in cross-coupling reactions.
Highlights
Over the past decades, biomass-based nanomaterials have become a highly prevalent topic of research owing to their sustainability, bioavailability, unique structural and morphological characteristics [1]
While groups are starting to investigate the usage of chitin and chitosan-based supports for heterogeneous catalysis, there are still scarce investigations on using these biomaterials on the
The deacetylation of chitin nanocrystals (ChNCs) into chitosan nanocrystals (ChsNCs) led to a decrease in crystallinity in the nanomaterial. This can be seen in the Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) with the broadening of the N–H and O–H stretches from 3000–3500 cm−1. This was more notable in the powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) spectra of ChNCs and ChsNCs (Supporting Information File 1, Figure S3) where broadening of the peaks was observed for ChsNC as amorphization of the internal ChNC structure occurred during the deacetylation process
Summary
Biomass-based nanomaterials have become a highly prevalent topic of research owing to their sustainability, bioavailability, unique structural and morphological characteristics [1]. A one-pot fabrication method is used to deposit Pd NPs directly onto both ChNCs and ChsNCs, and the as-made heterogeneous catalysts were tested with the Heck coupling reaction as a model for catalytic activity. The fabrication of ChNC and ChsNCs was conducted using a procedure previously reported by our group (Lam) (see Supporting Information File 1) [16].
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