Palladium-coated nickel nanoclusters: new Hiyama cross-coupling catalysts

The advantages of bimetallic nanoparticles as C - C coupling catalysts are discussed, and a simple, bottom- up synthesis method of core - shell Ni - Pd clusters is presented. This method combines electrochemical and 'wet chemical' techniques, and enables the preparation of highly monodispersed structured bimetallic nanoclusters. The double- anode electrochemical cell is described in detail. The core - shell Ni - Pd clusters were then applied as catalysts in the Hiyama cross- coupling reaction between phenyltrimethoxysilane and various haloaryls. Good product yields were obtained with a variety of iodo- and bromoaryls. We found that, for a fixed amount of Pd atoms, the core - shell clusters outperform both the monometallic Pd clusters and the alloy bimetallic Ni - Pd ones. THF is an excellent solvent for this process, with less than 2% homocoupling by-product. The roles of the stabiliser and the solvent are discussed

Multicomponent click synthesis of 1,2,3-triazoles from epoxides in water catalyzed by Copper nanoparticles on activated carbon

Copper nanoparticles on activated carbon have been found to effectively catalyze the multicomponent synthesis of β-hydroxy-1,2,3-triazoles from a variety of epoxides and alkynes in water. The catalyst is easy to prepare, reusable at a low copper loading (0.5 mol %), and exhibits higher catalytic activity than some commercially available copper sources. The regio- and stereochemistry of the reaction has been revised and unequivocally established on the basis of X-ray crystallographic analyses. An NMR experiment has been implemented for the rapid and unmistakable determination of the regiochemistry of the process. Some mechanistic aspects of the reaction have been also undertaken which unveil the participation of copper(I) acetylides.This work was generously supported by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MICINN; CTQ2007-65218 and Consolider Ingenio 2010-CSD2007-00006), the Generalitat Valenciana (GV; PROMETEO/2009/039), and FEDER. Y.M. acknowledges the ISO of the Universidad de Alicante for a grant