Analysis of Pd/B-CP-HIm
As discussed, CP-HIm ligand has been prepared and then conjugated on boehmite to furnish an efficient support for Pd stabilization. It was expected that boehmite maintained its structure upon grafting of CP-HIm ligand and Pd immobilization. To verify this issue, XRD patterns of boehmite and Pd/B-CP-HIm were recorded. As depicted in Figure 2, the two XRD patterns are similar and the characteristic peaks of boehmite (2θ = 14.62°, 28.92°, 39.10°, 49.16°, 55.32°, 65.26° and 72.38°) 21 are observable in the XRD pattern of Pd/B-CP-HIm. Worth mentioning, the peaks discerned in the XRD pattern of Pd/B-CP-HIm appeared at 2θ values exactly similar to that of boehmite, indicating the stability of boehmite in the course of chemical modification. XRD analysis and comparison of the two recorded patterns showed that Pd NPs peaks were not observable, indicating that the formed NPs were fine and well-dispersed 22.
To study the possible morphological changes upon introduction of CP-HIm and Pd NPs, SEM images of boehmite and Pd/B-CP-HIm were compared, Figure 3. As presented, both boehmite and Pd/B-CP-HIm showed orthorhombic cubic morphology, indicating that chemical modification did not affect the morphology of the catalyst remarkably.
To further shed light onto the morphology of Pd/B-CP-HIm, its TEM images were recorded. As illustrated in one of the selected TEM images, Figure 4, Pd NPs were well-distributed on the as-synthesized B-CP-HIm support with no aggregation. Moreover, the average particle size of Pd NPs was estimated to be 3.5 ±0.42 nm.
To confirm conjugation of the as-synthesized HIm ligand and also homogeneous dispersion of Pd NPs, EDS/elemental mapping analyses were accomplished, Figures 5 and 6. As displayed, C, N, O, Al, Si, P and Pd atoms were detected in EDS analysis, among which, Al and O are the elements present in the boehmite structure and P, N, O, C, Si atoms are representative of CP-HIm ligand, Figure 5. Elemental mapping analysis also showed that Pd and the ligands atoms (P, N, O, C, Si atoms) are distributed almost uniformly, Figure 6.
TGA not only can show the thermal stability of Pd/B-CP-HIm, but also can be used to approve grafting of CP-HIm ligand on boehmite. To this purpose, the thermograms of boehmite and Pd/B-CP-HIm were compared, Figure 7. In boehmite thermogram, loss of structural water at low temperature (~150 °C) and decomposition at elevated temperature (~450 °C) were detected. In the Pd/B-CP-HIm thermogram, however, three weight loss steps were observed, two of them were related to the loss of water and boehmite decomposition and one of them (detected at 350 °C) was due to the decomposition of CP-HIm. In fact, this additional weight loss step approves conjugation of the organic ligand on boehmite.
Formation of Pd/B-CP-HIm was also verified via FTIR spectroscopy, Figure 8. To have a better understanding, FTIR spectrum of Pd/B-CP-HIm was compared with that of boehmite, PNC, CP-HAL, CP-HIm and Pd/B-CP-HIm. As seen, FTIR spectrum of boehmite is in good accordance with the literature and showed the absorbance bands at 3080 and 3380 cm-1 due to symmetric and asymmetric vibrations of the O-H bonds 23,24, 480, 605 and 735 cm-1 related to Al-O bands absorption 12 and 1070 and 1161 cm-1 as a result of vibrations of hydrogen bonds of -OH moieties 25. In the case of PNC, the vibration of band in the range of 1190 to 1213 cm-1 is ascribed to the asymmetric vibration of (P=N-P) 26,27 and the absorbance bands at 520 and 601 cm-1 are attributed to P-Cl bands 28 in the framework of PNC 29. In the FTIR spectrum of CP-HAL, the stretching vibration around 1700 cm-1 is attributed to -C=O bond. The peak around 1500 cm-1 is related to the benzene ring vibration (Ph-O) and the peak at ~ 970 cm-1 is related to the stretching vibration of (P-O-C) that approves replacement of the phenoxy group with chlorine atoms 28. Also, the aromatic C-H bands were detected in 3000-3100 cm-1 27. In the FTIR spectrum of CP-HIm, the peak at 1700 cm-1 is disappeared and the bands at 1600-1650 cm-1 are appeared, indicating the formation of imine bond 27. Also, the aliphatic stretching vibration of C-H bands of APTES are clearly distinguishable at 2850-2974 cm-1 26. In the FTIR spectrum of Pd/B-CP-HIm, all of the characteristic peaks of CP-HIm and boehmite are detectable, confirming successful linkage of CP-HIm to the boehmite support.
Catalyst activity
As Pd/B-CP-HIm contains Pd NPs in its structure, it can be considered as a versatile catalyst for promoting various chemical transformations, such as hydrogenation. As a model Pd-catalyzed reaction, hydrogenation of nitro-compounds to the corresponding aniline derivatives has been targeted. As some of the parameters, such as Pd/B-CP-HIm dosage, reaction solvent and temperature can affect the yield of the reaction, optimized values of these parameters were first found by repeating a model reaction (hydrogenation of nitro benzene) under different reaction conditions, Table 1. As presented, the first test was performed in water as solvent at 40 °C in the presence of 10 mg Pd/B-CP-HIm. The result showed that under the aforesaid condition, moderate yield of aniline was furnished. To enhance the yield of aniline, the reaction temperature was elevated from 40 °C to 45 °C. As shown, upon increase of the reaction temperature, the yield of aniline increased. To further elucidate the role of reaction temperature in the reaction yield, the model reaction was repeated at 50 and 55 °C. As tabulated, the reaction yield increased by elevating temperature to 50 °C. However, aniline yield remained constant upon further increase of the reaction temperature. Therefore, the optimum value for reaction temperature was considered as 50 °C. Next, the effect of reaction solvent was studied by performing the model reaction in EtOH/H2O (1/1) as solvent. As the result revealed, EtOH/H2O (1/1) led to higher yield of aniline than water and selected as the solvent of choice. Finally, the effect of Pd/B-CP-HIm dosage was appraised by repeating the model reaction in the presence of 10-40 mg catalyst. As depicted, increase of this value from 10 to 30 mg led to the increase of the reaction yield. However, use of 40 mg Pd/B-CP-HIm did not result in any difference and the optimum value of the catalyst was 30 mg. As shown, under the optimum reaction condition, i.e. use of 30 mg Pd/B-CP-HIm, in EtOH/H2O (1/1) at 50 °C aniline was furnished in 100% yield after 2 h.
Table 1. Optimization of the reaction condition for the hydrogenation of nitrobenzene.
Entry
|
Pd/B-CP-HIm (mg)
|
Solvent
|
Temp. (°C)
|
Yield (%)
|
1
|
10
|
H2O
|
40
|
50
|
2
|
10
|
H2O
|
45
|
55
|
3
|
10
|
H2O
|
50
|
65
|
4
|
10
|
H2O
|
55
|
65
|
5
|
10
|
EtOH/H2O (1/1)
|
50
|
73
|
6
|
20
|
EtOH/H2O (1/1)
|
50
|
85
|
7
|
30
|
EtOH/H2O (1/1)
|
50
|
100
|
|
40
|
EtOH/H2O (1/1)
|
50
|
100
|
As discussed above, Pd/B-CP-HIm exhibited excellent activity for hydrogenation of nitrobenzene. To assay whether this methodology can be generalized to other nitro-compounds, a variety of nitroarene derivatives with electron donating and electron withdrawing groups were subjected to hydrogenation reaction under the optimized reaction condition. Gratifyingly, the results, Table 2, confirmed that various nitroarenes with different electronic and steric properties can be hydrogenized to give the corresponding products in excellent yields. Notably, sterically demanding derivatives and less active nitroarene derivatives, i.e. the derivatives with electron donating groups, led to slightly lower yields. It is worth mentioning that Pd/B-CP-HIm was selective towards hydrogenation of –NO2 functionality and in the substrates with –C=O groups (Table 2, entries 2 and 3), the carbonyl moiety remained intact and only reduction of nitro functionality was observed.
Recyclability
The model hydrogenation reaction under the optimized condition was also applied for examining the recyclability of Pd/B-CP-HIm. In this line, Pd/B-CP-HIm was separated from the reaction vessel via centrifugation, washed with EtOH repeatedly and dried at 50 ºC overnight. Afterwards, the recovered Pd/B-CP-HIm was reused for five successive hydrogenation runs. In Figure 9, the yields of aniline using fresh and recycled Pd/B-CP-HIm are illustrated. According to the results, Pd/B-CP-HIm can be considered as a recyclable catalyst, with only negligible loss of activity upon each run. The reused Pd/B-CP-HIm (the catalyst recovered after the last reaction run) was characterized via FTIR spectroscopy and ICP to assay its stability and Pd leaching respectively. Gratifyingly, the ICP result indicated that Pd leaching that is the origin of loss of the catalytic activity was very scant (~ 1.4 wt.% initial loading of Pd NPs in the fresh Pd/B-CP-HIm). Furthermore, FTIR spectroscopy, Figure 10, confirmed that both fresh and reused Pd/B-CP-HIm showed similar characteristic absorbance bands in the FTIR spectrum, confirming the chemical stability of Pd/B-CP-HIm upon reusing.
Hot filtration
One of the important factors in heterogeneous catalysis is stability of the supported catalytic species on the supporting material in the course of the reaction. To examine this issue for Pd/B-CP-HIm catalysis, hot filtration test was applied, in which the catalyst was removed from the reaction vessel after a short time period and the reaction was continued and monitored in the absence of the catalyst to appraise whether any reaction progress was observed in the absence of the catalyst. According to this test, Figure 11, hydrogenation of nitrobenzene (the model reaction) did not proceed after Pd/B-CP-HIm removal, establishing that Pd NPs were remained stabilized on B-CP-Him in the course of hydrogenation reaction.
Comparison of the activity of Pd/B-CP-HIm with some other catalysts
Nitro-arene hydrogenation is a fundamental reaction for the synthesis of aniline derivatives. Hence many research groups reported catalytic systems for promoting this reaction under mild reaction condition. As the reaction condition and the nature of the catalyst for each protocol were different, accurate comparison of the catalytic activity of the catalyst is impossible. However, the data in Table 3 indicate that some protocols needed high hydrogen pressure or hazardous solvents that rendered those methodologies less favorable from environmental point of view. On the other hand, for the synthesis of some of the catalytic systems, multi-step synthetic procedures as well as costly raw materials were applied that made the catalyst less economically attractive. Pd/B-CP-HIm, however, is prepared from naturally occurring boehmite and can promote the hydrogenation reaction under mild reaction condition to furnish the desired product in excellent yield. Hence, it can be concluded that Pd/B-CP-HIm can be recognized as a promising catalyst with comparable or superior activity compared to some reported catalysts.
Table 3. Comparison of reaction condition and yield of various catalysts for hydrogenation of nitrobenzene.
Entry
|
Catalyst
|
Temp. (°C)
|
Solvent
|
Time
(min)
|
H2 Pressure
|
Yield (%)
|
Ref.
|
1
|
Pd/B-CP-HIm (0.03 g)
|
50
|
H2O: EtOH (1:1)
|
120
|
1 atm
|
100
|
This work
|
2
|
Pd/PPh3@FDU‐12 ( 8.33 ×10-4
mmol Pd)
|
40
|
EtOH
|
60
|
10 bar
|
99
|
30
|
3
|
APSNP a (1 mol%)
|
r.t.
|
EtOH
|
120
|
40 atm
|
100
|
31
|
4
|
Pd@Per-P b (0.03 g)
|
45
|
H2O: EtOH (1:1)
|
90
|
1 atm
|
98
|
32
|
5
|
Pd@CS-CD-MGQDs c (0.5 mol%)
|
50
|
H2O
|
60
|
1 atm
|
97
|
33
|
6
|
PdNP(0.5%)/Al2O3 (0.3 g)
|
r.t.
|
THF
|
180
|
1 atm
|
100
|
34
|
7
|
Pd@Hal-Hydrogel d+cyclodextrin (2wt%)
|
50
|
H2O
|
120
|
1 bar
|
95
|
35
|
8
|
Pd@Hal-biochar
(0.03 mol%)
|
r.t.
|
H2O
|
60
|
1 bar
|
75
|
36
|
9
|
Pd@Hal-TCT-Mete
|
65
|
H2O
|
75
|
1 bar
|
100
|
37
|
a: Activated palladium sucrose nanoparticles
b: Pd on composite of perlite and polymer
c: Pd on composite of magnetic graphitic carbon dot and chitosan-cyclodextrin
d:compositeof halloysite nanoclay and hydrogel
e: halloysite nanoclay decorated with nitrogen containing ligand