Fabrication and Catalytic Properties of Films Based on Metal Ion-ligand Interaction between K_2PdCl_4 and 3-Amino-3-(4-pyridinyl)-propionitrile

This work presents a highly active and reusable heterogeneous film catalytic assembly for hydrogenation reduction of aromatic nitro compounds. The multilayer structures of PEI-(K_2PdCl_4-P1)_n-film(PEI = polyethylenmine, P1 = 3-amino-3-(4-pyridinyl)-propionitrile) bound to quartz slides were fabricated by layer-by-layer(LbL) self-assembly method. Various characterization techniques including X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS), inductively coupled plasma OES spectrometer(ICP), UV-vis spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy(AFM) were employed to reveal the growth process of the resulting LbL multilayers in detail. Subsequent in situ reduction by H2 produced Pd nanoparticles embedded in such films were used as catalyst for the hydrogenation of nitroarenes. The catalytic performance test shows that the thin film catalyst can be applied to the hydrogenation reaction of various substituted nitroaromatics, and exhibits good catalytic activity and good catalyst stability. It is worth mentioning that our catalytic films can be easily removed from the reaction system in any time during the reaction, and the catalytic activity could be fully recovered when reused directly in another catalytic cycle for five times.