Water-Dispersible Pd–N-Heterocyclic Carbene Complex Immobilized on Magnetic Nanoparticles as a New Heterogeneous Catalyst for Fluoride-Free Hiyama, Suzuki–Miyaura and Cyanation Reactions in Aqueous Media

Pd–N-heterocyclic carbine complex immobilized on magnetic nanoparticles is synthesized and characterized by different techniques such as FT-IR, XPS, TEM, EDX, FESEM, VSM, TGA, and ICP. The synthesized catalyst was used as a new water dispersible heterogeneous catalyst in the fluoride-free Hiyama, Suzuki–Miyaura and cyanation reactions in pure water. By this method, different types of biaryls and aryl nitriles were synthesized in good to high yields by the reaction of a variety of aryl iodides, bromides and chlorides with triethoxyphenylsilane, phenylboronic acid and K4[Fe(CN)6]·3H2O, respectively. The presence of sulfonates as hydrophilic groups on the surface of the catalyst confers a highly water dispersible, active and yet magnetically recoverable Pd catalyst. The possibility to perform the reaction in water as a green medium, ease of the catalyst recovery and reuse by magnetic separation, and the absence of any additives or co-solvents make this method as an eco-friendly and economical protocol for the synthesis of biaryl derivatives and aryl nitriles. A new water dispersible heterogeneous Pd–N-heterocyclic carbene for the efficient fluoride-free Hiyama, Suzuki–Miyaura and cyanation reactions in pure water is developed.