Catalysis for the hydrogenation of nitroaromatics by highly dispersed palladium nanoparticles anchored on a resorcin[4]arene-based metal–organic dimer containing amino groups

Abstract

We herein reported a design strategy for the construction of resorcin[4]arene-based metal–organic complexes through adjusting auxiliary linkers. By precisely tuning 1,4-benzenedicarboxylic acid analogs, a series of isostructural resorcin[4]arene-based metal–organic dimers, namely, [Zn₄(TIC4R)₂·(L)₂·(OH)₂]·2HCOO·solvent (1–9) (L = 1,4-benzenedicarboxylic acid analogs and TIC4R = tetra(imidazole)resorcin[4]arene), were rationally prepared under solvothermal conditions. Considering the amino groups on the backbone of dimer 2, Pd nanoparticles were prepared to uniformly disperse on the substrate of 2 to give Pd@2. Most importantly, the Pd@2 catalyst was applied for nitroarene hydrogenation with efficient catalytic performance and high selectivity under mild conditions. This work afforded a possible method for precisely controlling the target complex assemblies and their further application.