Polymer-supported palladium-imidazole complex catalyst for hydrogenation of substituted benzylideneanilines

The polymer-supported palladium-imidazole complex catalyst was synthesized and characterized by various techniques such as elemental analysis, IR spectroscopy and TG analysis. The physico-chemical properties such as bulk density, surface studies by BET method and swelling studies of catalyst in different solvents were investigated. XPS studies were carried out to identify the oxidation state of palladium in the catalyst. The morphology of the support and the catalyst was studied using scanning electron microscope. Using the synthesized catalyst, hydrogenation of benzylideneaniline and a few of its para substituted derivatives was carried out at ambient conditions. The influence of variation in temperature, concentration of the catalyst as well as the substrate on the rate of reaction was studied. The catalyst showed an excellent recycling efficiency over six cycles without leaching of metal from the polymer support.