An effective photothermal dual-responsive Pd1Cu4/CexOy catalyst for Suzuki–Miyaura coupling reactions under mild conditions

Abstract

The Suzuki–Miyaura coupling reaction is one of the effective methods for forming C–C bonds in modern organic synthesis. However, most of the current catalysts can only effectively catalyze the aryl iodides and aryl bromides, and the catalytic activity for the inexpensive aryl chlorides is relatively low. Herein, the Pd₁Cu₄/Ce_xO_y catalysts can not only exhibit excellent performance in the conventional thermal reactions of aryl bromides and arylboronic acids, but also effectively activate aryl chlorides in Suzuki–Miyaura coupling reactions under visible light irradiation at room temperature. The Ce_xO_y carriers can provide photogenerated electrons to enrich the electron density of the Pd nanoparticles, which can effectively activate the strong C–Cl bonds of the aryl chlorides. Meanwhile, the photogenerated holes of Ce_xO_y can activate arylboronic acids. The presence of Pd and Cu₂O can further enhance the absorption of visible light by Ce_xO_y. Catalysts prepared in this work could provide a great promise for using inexpensive metals to synergistically catalyze Suzuki–Miyaura coupling reactions under mild conditions.