Supramolecular Nanotubules as Catalytic Regulator for Pd Cation and Their Application in Selective Catalysis

Despite recent development of highly efficient and stable metal catalysts, conferral of regulatory characteristic to the catalytic reaction in heterogeneous system remains a challenge. Herein, novel supramolecular nanotubules were prepared by alternative stacking from trimeric macrocycles, which was found to be able to coordinate with Pd cations. The Pd complexes exhibited a high catalytic performance for C-C coupling reaction. Notably, the tubular catalyst was observed to be controlled by supramolecular reversible assembly and showed superior heterogeneous catalytic activity maintained for a number of recycles or reuse under aerobic environment. Furthermore, the supramolecular catalyst showed unprecedented selectivity for the multi-functional coupling reaction and was able to serve as a new construction of asymmetrical compounds.