Thiophene Methanimine–Palladium Schiff Base Complex Anchored on Magnetic Nanoparticles: A Novel, Highly Efficient and Recoverable Nanocatalyst for Cross-Coupling Reactions in Mild and Aqueous Media

Abstract

In this study, a novel thiophene methanimine–palladium Schiff base complex anchored on decorated γ-Fe2O3 with 2-aminoethyl dihydrogen phosphate (γ-Fe2O3/AEPH2-TC-Pd) was synthesized as a new magnetically separable nanocatalyst. Characterization of the new designed nanocatalyst was performed successfully using different techniques such as FT-IR, XRD, XPS, TEM, TGA, VSM, ICP and elemental analysis. This nanocatalyst presented a superb catalytic activity for Suzuki–Miyaura and Heck–Mizoroki cross-coupling reactions. The most important features of the prepared catalytic system which makes the current protocol more beneficial from both industrial and environmental viewpoints are its ease of recovery and reusability up to nine cycles without appreciable loss of the catalytic performance, as well as accomplishing the reactions under mild conditions in aqueous media which is a great challenge in some cross-coupling reactions.