Superparamagnetic nanoparticle-supported palladium: a highly stable magnetically recoverable and reusable catalyst for hydrogenation reactions

Abstract

Here we present a magnetically recoverable palladium catalyst prepared by immobilization of palladium over silica-coated magnetite nanoparticles. The catalyst reduced by molecular hydrogen contains palladium nanoparticles well distributed and stabilized in the magnetizable support surfaces and converts cyclohexene to cyclohexane under mild reaction conditions (75 °C and 6 atm) with TOF of 11 500 h⁻¹. The catalyst was easily recovered with a permanent magnet in the reactor wall and reused for up to 20 recycles of 2500 TON each without any significant loss in catalytic activity, demonstrating an efficient recycling process for hydrogenation reactions.