A New Activated Carbon-Supported Pd–ZnO Catalyst for Heck Cross-coupling Reactions

In this work, to develop catalysts for Heck-type coupling reactions, a hybrid ZnO-Pd nanocatalyst was fabricated on activated carbon sourced from polymer debris. Such techniques as transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area analysis were applied for the identification of hybrid materials. The catalytic conversion capacity of the hybrid material was tested by Heck cross-coupling reactions through a series of aryl iodides and bromines with styrene. It was observed that cross-coupling reactions were catalyzed by designed hybrid material with a reaction yield of more than 90%. The recyclability of the hybrid was also tested by Heck reaction of 1-bromo-4-nitrobenzene with styrene, and the hybrid catalyst showed remarkable stability up to 5 cycles.