Establishing Fe-Cu interaction in a novel free-standing material to boost the catalytic activity for ligand-free Suzuki-Miyaura cross-couplings

In this study, a cheap and easily recyclable “tea-bag” shaped Cu(Fe-Cl)/Al catalyst was fabricated to catalyze the Suzuki-Miyaura coupling reactions with good yields. It was found that, after being doped with iron and chlorine, catalytic activity of the materials was prominently enhanced. The unique electron-donation mechanism enabled the reduction from Cu (Ⅱ) to Cu (Ⅰ) after iron doping, which greatly improved the catalytic activity. An in-depth analysis of the reaction mechanism was then probed using characterizations such as XPS, HRTEM, and control experiments. Compared with traditional homogeneous or heterogeneous metal catalysts, this study can provide a green and economical choice to afford a free-standing recyclable catalyst with extremely high turnover numbers (TON up to 9.1 × 103) for Suzuki cross-coupling reactions.