The MOF–driven synthesis of supported palladium clusters with catalytic activity for carbene–mediated chemistry

by F.R. Fortea Pérez, M. Mon, J. Ferrando Soria, M. Boronat, A. Leyva Pérez, A. Corma, J.M. Herrera, D. Osadchii, J. Gascon, D. Armentano And E. Pardo
Year: 2017 ISSN: DOI: 10.1038/nmat4910

Bibliography

F.R. Fortea Pérez, M. Mon, J. Ferrando Soria, M. Boronat, A. Leyva Pérez, A. Corma, J.M. Herrera, D. Osadchii, J. Gascon, D. Armentano, E. Pardo, Nature Mater. 16 (2017) 760-766, The MOF–driven synthesis of supported palladium clusters with catalytic activity for carbene–mediated chemistry

Abstract

​The development of catalysts able to assist industrially important chemical processes is a topic of high importance. In view of the catalytic capabilities of small metal clusters, research efforts are being focused on the synthesis of novel catalysts bearing such active sites. Here we report a heterogeneous catalyst consisting of Pd4 clusters with mixed-valence 0/+1 oxidation states, stabilized and homogeneousl​y organized within the walls of a metal-organic framework (MOF). The resulting solid catalyst outperforms state-of-the-art metal catalysts in carbene-mediated reactions of diazoacetates, with high yields (>90%) and turnover numbers (up to 100,000). In addition, the MOF-supported Pd4 clusters retain their catalytic activity in repeated batch and flow reactions (>20 cycles). Our findings demonstrate how this synthetic approach may now instruct the future design of heterogeneous catalysts with advantageous reaction capabilities for other important processes.

Keywords

Heterogeneous Catalysis Metal-organic frameworks