Mesoporous silicabis(ethylsulfanyl)propane palladium catalysts for hydrogenation and one-pot two-step Suzuki cross-coupling followed by hydrogenation

The solid phase catalytic activity of mesoporous silicabis(ethylsulfanyl)propane palladium catalysts for hydrogenation and novel one-pot two-step Suzuki cross-coupling followed by hydrogenation is described. The efficiency of catalytic hydrogenation was measured for substrate nitrobenzene with 5, 7 and 14 nm average pore diameter materials. The 5 nm pore material performed best and was also very effective in the catalytic hydrogenation of alkene, nitrile and imine substrates. Novel one-pot two-step Suzuki cross-coupling and hydrogenation was demonstrated using bromonitro- and bromodinitrobenzene and phenylboronic acid as substrates with conversion to the corresponding coupled amino compounds. As a consequence of the high affinity of the sulfur ligands for palladium, none was detected in leaching tests and the catalyst is easily separated and recycled.