A Well‐Defined Pd Hybrid Material for the <i>Z</i>‐Selective Semihydrogenation of Alkynes Characterized at the Molecular Level by DNP SENS

Abstract

Direct evidence of the conformation of a Pd-N heterocyclic carbene (NHC) moiety imbedded in a hybrid material and of the Pd-NHC bond were obtained by dynamic nuclear polarization surface-enhanced NMR spectroscopy (DNP SENS) at natural abundance in short experimental times (hours). Overall, this silica-based hybrid material containing well-defined Pd-NHC sites in a uniform environment displays high activity and selectivity in the semihydrogenation of alkynes into Z-alkenes (see figure).