Nickel nanoparticles supported on graphene as catalysts for aldehyde hydrosilylation

• Nickel nanoparticles (4 nm) have been supported on graphenes.
• Ni/G is a suitable catalyst for hydrosilylation of aldehydes.
• Hydrosilylation can be carried out under solventless conditions.
• 105 turnovers were reached for benzaldehyde reacting with phenyldimethylsilane.
• Scope includes aromatic and aliphatic aldehydes and unencumbered silanes.

Nickel nanoparticles (NPs) supported on different undoped or doped with N or B graphenes (Gs) have been tested as catalyst for the hydrosilylation of aldehydes to obtain the corresponding siloxanes with high conversion and good selectivity in short reaction time. The different Gs employed were obtained by pyrolysis under inert atmosphere of alginate or chitosan, modified or not with boric acid. Then the metal NPs obtained by polyol reduction method using ethylene glycol were adsorbed on Gs. The Ni-containing G catalysts were characterized by electron microscopy, XPS and Raman spectroscopy. The scope of the Ni/G catalyst includes aliphatic and aromatic aldehydes as well as a variety of hydrosilanes.

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