Abstract

Heterogeneous palladium catalysts, which are supported by biopolymer, have been applied in water-mediated Heck and the oxidation of alcohols cyclic reaction without assistance of any phosphine ligands. More importantly, owing to the interconversion between the Pd⁰ and Pd^II oxidation states during the Heck and oxidation reaction course, the catalyst exhibits good activity in Heck cross-coupling reaction of bromobenzene with styrene and oxidation reaction of alcohols to corresponding aldehydes or ketones without overoxidation using air as the source of molecular oxygen. This heterogeneous wool-Pd catalyst is stable, shows negligible metal leaching, and can be reused several times in reactions without significant loss of activity and selectivity.

Keywords: Aqueous media, heck reaction, heterogeneous catalyst, oxidation of alcohols, wool-Pd complex.

Graphical Abstract