Preparation of an active Suzuki-Miyaura catalyst from nanoparticles obtained by deposition of palladium onto a polyvinyl alcohol support

Highly dispersed palladium was obtained by vacuum deposition onto polyvinyl alcohol films, followed by removal of the support via dissolution in hot water, and was characterized by transmission electron microscopy. The dispersed palladium consisted of aggregated nanoparticles with a size of ～10 nm and was used to catalyze the Suzuki-Miyaura reaction of p-iodonitrobenzene with phenylboronic acid in N,N-dimethylacetamide and propan-1-ol at 50–80°C in the presence of potassium phosphate as base. Taking into account that the reaction required atmospheric oxygen (no reaction occurred under argon), it was presumed that the process is homogeneous and that palladium is transferred into solution as a result of leaching by the action of oxygen in the presence of iodide ions. The properties of the examined catalytic system were compared with those reported for other catalytic systems containing palladium nanoparticles.