N-Heterocyclic Carbene Coordinated Heterogeneous Pd Nanoparticles as Catalysts for Suzuki–Miyaura Coupling

Palladium nanoparticle (Pd NP) catalysts immobilized in a polymer with an N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) moiety (PICB-NHC-Pd) have been developed, wherein the NHC moiety plays dual roles as a crosslinker and a ligand to activate the Pd NPs. The presence of both Pd NPs and NHC was confirmed by STEM/EDS and SR-MAS NMR analyses, respectively. This PICB-NHC-Pd catalyst showed excellent activity in the Suzuki–Miyaura coupling reaction without leaching of Pd. Excellent results were obtained in gram-scale synthesis, and catalyst recovery/reuse experiments were completed without loss of catalyst activity.