Immobilisation of Homogeneous Pd Catalysts within a Type I Porous Liquid

Abstract

An N-heterocyclic carbene-based palladium complex was successfully immobilised on the inner surfaces of hollow silica nanospheres. The external surfaces of these spheres were functionalised with a corona-canopy to produce a Type I porous liquid. To confirm the successful immobilisation of the catalytic precursor, the porous liquid system was explored using the Heck reaction as a model reaction. This work demonstrated that homogeneous catalysts can be successfully immobilised within porous liquids in principle and that the approach used could be readily adapted for the immobilisation of other systems.