Gelatin‐pyrolyzed mesoporous N‐doped carbon supported Pd as high‐performance catalysts for aqueous Heck reactions

Abstract

Nitrogen‐doped mesoporous carbon‐supported Pd (Pd@N‐C) catalysts were prepared by pyrolyzing gelatin/templates/PdCl 2 hydrogels under N 2 atmosphere at 800°C. Using poly (ethylene glycol) block poly (propylene glycol) block poly (ethylene glycol) (P123) as soft template and/or colloidal SiO 2 as hard templates can significantly improve the Brunauer‐Emmett‐Teller (BET) surface area, porous structure, and pore volumes of the resultant Pd@N‐C catalysts. Pd nanoparticles sized from 10–20 nm can be well immobilized on the mesoporous carbon matrix by one‐pot carbonization (OC) and/or solution impregnation (SI) process. The resultant Pd@N‐C catalysts with best physical properties was found in the case of Pd@N‐C‐SiO 2 ‐OC (1/1), exhibiting high BET surface area of 695.2 m 2 /g, large pore volume of 1.05 cm 3 /g, high mesoporous centered at 3.7 and 9.1 nm, rich N content of 7.7%, and high thermal stability with beginning decomposition temperature above 500°C. It showed excellent activities for aqueous Heck coupling reactions of aromatic iodides and butyl acrylates and can be recycled for at least eight times with yield still higher than 80%. This work might facilitate a versatile platform for green and functional utilization of nature‐rich biopolymer of gelatin.