Imidazolium ionic liquid-tagged palladium complex: an efficient catalyst for the Heck and Suzuki reactions in aqueous media

Abstract

An air stable, water soluble, and efficient ionic liquid-tagged Schiff base palladium complex was prepared. The synthesized complex was well characterized by NMR, mass spectrometry, FT-IR, UV-visible spectroscopy and powder X-ray diffraction. The complex was used as a catalyst for the Suzuki and Heck cross-coupling reactions in water. Good to excellent yields were achieved using a modest amount of the catalyst. In addition, the catalyst can be easily reused and recycled for six steps without much loss in activity, exhibiting an example of sustainable and green methodology.