Journal of Molecular Catalysis A-Chemical, Vol.379, 30-37, 2013
Solar energy assisted synthesis of palladium nanoplates and its application in 2-phenoxy-1,1'-biphenyls and N,N-dimethyl-[1,1'-biphenyl] derivatives synthesis
Present work aims to develop a greener approach for the palladium nanoplates (PdNPs) synthesis and its catalytic applications. The protocol deals with solar energy assisted ionic palladium reduction in the presence of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and ethylene glycol (EG) with a good shape selectivity. Polyvinylpyrrolidone plays a duel role of capping agent and mild reductant; whereas, ethylene glycol acts as a reductant and solvent. The optimum sunlight concentration is a key factor to the anticipated nanoplate's synthesis. Results show that the most of nanoparticles are hexagonal and triangular nanoplates in the range of 20-50 nm. This is a first report which shows similar to 70% selectivity to the nanoplates formation using sun light. The study also covers it's catalytic application, wherein; 2-phenoxy-1,1'-biphenyls and N,N-dimethyl-[1,1'-biphenyl] derivatives were synthesized by a simple, ligand free, faster, one pot, ecological and economic protocol in aqueous medium. The catalyst shows better performance than that of conventionally available 10% Pd/C catalyst. The prepared PdNPs showed excellent catalytic performance to the desired products with recyclability. (C) Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.