Preparation and catalytic performance of a molecularly imprinted Pd complex catalyst for Suzuki cross-coupling reactions

A SiO₂-supported molecularly imprinted Pd complex with SiO₂-matrix overlayers was prepared as a Suzuki cross-coupling catalyst. A ligand on the supported Pd complex was used as a molecular imprinting template to create the reaction space. The structures of the supported and molecularly imprinted Pd complexes on SiO₂ were determined by solid-state MAS ¹³C, ²⁹Si, and ³¹P NMR; diffuse reflectance UV/vis; XPS; and Pd K-edge XAFS. The catalytic performance of the molecularly imprinted Pd complex catalyst was very different for various combinations of aryl iodides and arylboronic acids. Reactants with bulky substituent groups were hindered on the imprinted catalyst in Suzuki cross-coupling reactions.