We report on the synthesis, characterization and catalytic performance of new, supported Pd-II and Pd-0 catalysts. The catalysts are characterized by TEM, XRD, FTIR, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and vibrating sample magnetometry. The catalysts are found to be active in both forms, Pd-II and Pd-0, for the carbonylative cross-coupling reaction of aryl iodides with arylboronic acids, and for the hydrogenation of aromatic nitroand unsaturated compounds. The newly developed catalysts are prepared by a synthetic strategy that is similar to the one used for other supported catalysts but are easier to recover- they can be recycled by magnetic separation from liquid phase reactions-and can be used for at least 5 consecutive trials without any decrease in activity.

AbstractThe catalyst can be easily recycled using a magnet and reused for further transformations.

A facile method is presented for the immobilization of gold nanoparticles on polyethyleneimine functionalized magnetite. The catalyst was characterized by TEM, XRD, TGA, FT-IR, XPS and VSM. This catalyst afforded a fast conversion of the 4-nitrophenol to 4-aminophenol at the presence of NaBH4, and an excellent yield was still achieved after it was reused ten times.

The present work reports a facile route for ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) immobilization on the surface of amine-terminated Fe3O4 nanoparticles for remediation of heavy metals from aqueous solutions. Transmission electron microscopy images showed both Fe3O4–NH2 and Fe3O4–NH2/PEI-EDTA magnetic nanoparticles with an average diameter of 60nm. The FT-IR study confirmed the chemical covalent modification of EDTA on the surface of amine-terminated magnetite nanoparticles. XRD analysis demonstrated that the magnetic nanoparticles had a high crystallinity before and after modification. Magnetic measurements indicated that these nanoparticles could be easily removed through external magnetic force. The research work on the adsorption revealed that the concentration of Pb2+ altered from 10 to 0.12mg/L and it indicated that 98.8% of Pb2+ could be removed from aqueous solutions at pH 5.05, and Fe3O4–NH2/PEI-EDTA loaded heavy metal ions after being treated with 0.1M HCl could be used as a reusable nano-adsorbent.

A carbon nanotube-based fluorescent chemosensor MWNTs-glycine-N-8-quinolylamide (MWNTs-GNQ) has been designed and synthesized. Steady-state fluorescence emission studies showed that this material displays high selectivity and sensitivity for the Cu2+ ion over other cations such as Zn2+, Cd2+, Mg2+, Ca2+, and Ni2+.