In-situ generation of resin-supported Pd nanoparticles under mild catalytic conditions: a green route to highly efficient, reusable hydrogenation catalysts

This paper reports a simple one-pot strategy for the synthesis of solid-supported Pd nanoparticles based on ion-exchange resins, palladium nitrate and in-situ formed metal particles under mild catalytic hydrogenation conditions (room temperature, 1 bar H2). Besides providing catalysts featured by a better performance with respect to the corresponding pre-reduced species, the approach is considerably more convenient and environmentally benign compared to conventional methods for the preparation of supported metal nanoparticles. The heterogeneous catalyst can be readily reused several times with no detectable metal leaching in solution nor significant efficiency decay. These findings hold considerable interest in the field of sustainable production of fine chemicals. Applications to the selective hydrogenation of various industrially important substrates, including 3-hexyn-1-ol, are reported together with a detailed investigation of the factors affecting the catalyst performance. A rationale of the catalysts activity is presented and discussed against that of parent species.