Cellulose is highly valuable due to its ready availability, biodegradability, and easy chemical modification. Recently, studies have focused on the chemical modification of cellulose and utilized it as a support for stabilizing metals. In this study, a Schiff base- and imidazole-functionalized cellulose-supported Pd (Cell-SB-IM-Pd) catalyst was prepared and used for the 4-nitrohpenol reduction as well as the synthesis of biaryls. Compared with the raw Cell-Pd catalyst (70%), Cell-SB-IM-Pd exhibited higher catalytic efficiency (90%) in Suzuki reactions, which was attributed to the introduction of C═N and imidazole, providing charge-transfer interaction between them and Pd. The Cell-SB-IM-Pd also showed good to excellent yields (up to 99%) for various substrates in Suzuki reactions under mild conditions. Likewise, we also demonstrated the stability and efficiency of Cell-SB-IM-Pd in the 4-nitrophenol reduction at room temperature in water, with an apparent rate constant of 9.074 × 10–2 min–1. This work provides more insights into the further utilization of cellulose as a Pd host matrix for converting organic pollutants and promoting sustainable chemical reactions.
Bi et al. (Tue,) studied this question.