Scalable preparation of stable and reusable silica supported palladium nanoparticles as catalysts for N-alkylation of amines with alcohols

Abstract

Listen

Translate article

The development of nanoparticles-based heterogeneous catalysts continues to be of scientific and industrial interest for the advancement of sustainable chemical processes. Notably, up-scaling the production of catalysts to sustain unique structural features, activities and selectivities is highly important and remains challenging. Herein, we report the expedient synthesis of Pd-nanoparticles as amination catalysts by the reduction of simple palladium salt on commercial silica using molecular hydrogen. The resulting Pd-nanoparticles constitute stable and reusable catalysts for the synthesis of various N-alkyl amines using borrowing hydrogen technology without the use of any base or additive. By applying this Pd-based catalyst, functionalized and structurally diverse N-alkylated amines as well as some selected drug molecules were synthesized in good to excellent yields. Practical and synthetic utility of this Pd-based amination protocol has been demonstrated by upscaling catalyst preparation and amination reactions to several grams-scales as well as recycling of catalyst. Noteworthy, this Pd-catalyst preparation has been up-scaled to kilogram scale and catalysts prepared in both small (1 g) and large-scale (kg) exhibited similar structural features and activity.