Palladium immobilized on aminated polyacrylonitrile nanofiber as an efficient heterogeneous catalyst for Heck reaction

Aminated polyacrylonitrile (PAN-NH) nanofiber mats prepared by electrospinning and then aminated by multiamines with different chemical structures have been used for the immobilization of palladium. The PAN-NH fiber morphologies were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and the dispersion of palladium particles on the PAN-NH fiber were examined by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The catalytic activity and recyclability of the prepared heterogeneous palladium catalysts have been evaluated by the Heck reaction of iodobenzene with n-butyl acrylate. It was found that the catalytic activities of PAN-NH-Pd catalysts could be correlated with the chelating energies of the PAN-NH fiber mats with Pd active species.