Microwave-assisted synthesis of Pd nanoparticles and their catalysis application for Suzuki cross-coupling reactions

ABSTRACTPd nanoparticles (PdNPs) were prepared via microwave-assisted chemical reduction method (PdNPs-MW) and a conventional chemical reduction method (PdNPs-C) using ethanol as the reducing agent in the presence of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), respectively. The as-prepared PdNPs were characterized by UV–vis spectroscopy, TEM, XRD, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis. The results showed that PdNPs-MW had a uniform structure and narrower size distribution with diameters of 3.6–5.4 nm. An obvious increase in size of the PdNPs was apparent for PdNPs-C. The PdNPs-MW demonstrated 68.7% yield toward the Suzuki cross-coupling reaction of 4-bromobenzonitrile and phenylboronic acid for 10 min with a higher turnover frequency of 41220 h−1 compared with the value of PdNPs-C (20580 h−1).