Highly Efficient and Reusable Polymer Supported Palladium Catalyst for Copper Free Sonogashira Reaction in Water

Abstract Development of a novel, greener and efficient heterogeneous catalytic system for copper free Sonogashira reaction in water is described. This novel catalyst can be easily prepared by a simple method through synthetic modification of nitrile group in Polyacrylonitrile (PAN) using monoethanolamine (MEA) followed by its complexation with palladium chloride (PdCl 2 ). The resulting polymer Pd complex ( mPAN‐Pd ) was characterized by means of Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Energy‐Dispersive X‐ray Spectroscopy (EDAX), Inductively Coupled Mass Spectrometry (ICP‐MS) and X‐ray Photo Electron Spectroscopy (XPS) analyses. mPAN‐Pd was then explored as highly efficient heterogeneous catalyst for Sonogashira coupling reaction under copper and ligand free conditions in water affording the corresponding coupling products up to 97 % isolated yield. Moreover, the catalyst was recovered by simple filtration after the reaction and reused for next 5 cycles with excellent stability and activity. This is the first report on the use of ethanolamine modified PAN Pd (II) complex as an efficient heterogeneous catalyst for a coupling reaction.