Palladium acetate supported on amidoxime-functionalized magnetic cellulose: Synthesis, DFT study and application in Suzuki reaction

A highly efficient and magnetically retrievable catalytic system involving Pd (II) acetate supported on amidoxime-functionalized cellulose nano-magnetic catalyst (nano-Fe3O4@AOFC/Pd(II)) was prepared. The structure of the organic-inorganic hybrid nanocomposite has been confirmed using various physicochemical techniques such as FT-IR, XRD, TGA, VSM, XPS, HRTEM, SAED, SEM, CHNS, EDAS and ICP-OES. In addition, to describe and go insight to the metal-ligand interactions present in the nano-Fe3O4@AOFC/Pd (II) composite, covalent and electrostatic interactions, density functional theory (DFT) model and quantum theory of atoms in molecule method were employed. The resultant nano-magnetic cellulose composite exhibits remarkable catalytic efficacy used for Suzuki cross-coupling reaction between aryl halides and aryl boronic acids to create the corresponding coupling products in good to excellent yields. Also, the catalyst is easily recovered using only an external magnet. Its recoverability and reusability for this catalyst was examined in several runs which showed no appreciable loss after five runs. The facile accessibility to the starting materials, possible performance in large scales, and conducting the reactions in the eco-friendly and cost-effective conditions are the other merits which can be mentioned for such new Pd −catalyst.