Ultra-small palladium nano-particles synthesized using bulky S/Se and N donor ligands as a stabilizer: application as catalysts for Suzuki–Miyaura coupling

Two chalcogenated ligands L1 and L2 containing anthracene core and amine functionality have been synthesized. Both the ligands have been characterized using (1)H and (13)C{(1)H} NMR techniques. The structure of L1 has also been corroborated by single crystal X-ray diffraction. Application of L1 and L2 as stabilizers for palladium nano-particles (NPs) has been explored and six different types of NPs 1–6 have been prepared by varying the quantity of stabilizer. The nano-particles have been characterized by PXRD, EDX, and HRTEM techniques. The size of NPs has been found to be in the range of ∼1–2 nm, 2–3 nm, 4–6 nm, 1–2 nm, 1–2 nm and 3–5 nm for 1–6 respectively. The catalytic activities of 1–6 have been explored for Suzuki–Miyaura coupling of phenyl boronic acid with various aryl halides. These NPs showed good catalytic activity for various aryl chlorides/bromides at low catalyst loading (5 mg). Among 1–6, the highest activity has been observed for NPs 1, probably due to their relatively small size and high uniformity in the dispersion. The recyclability of the NPs upto 5 catalytic cycles is a distinct advantage.