Synthesis of Pd–Pt–Fe3O4 nanoflakes and their performance as magnetically recyclable catalysts for nitroarene reduction

Abstract

Magnetically recyclable nanoparticles have attracted increasing interest for the development of efficient heterogeneous catalysts designed for practical organic synthesis. Herein, we describe the study on the synthesis of bimetallic Pd–Pt–Fe3O4 nanoflake-shaped nanoparticles and their catalytic applications toward highly efficient nitroarene reduction reactions. We prepared the catalyst through a co-reduction of potassium tetrachloroplatinate (II) and palladium chloride (II) in polyvinylpyrrolidone, with subsequent deposition on commercially available Fe3O4 nanoparticles. After immobilization of the transition metals, we utilized the nanocatalysts for the efficient reduction on a variety of nitro-compounds, and all the reactions examined proceeded with high yields and chemoselectivities in 5 min. Furthermore, the spent catalysts could be recovered and reused up to 250 times without any loss of catalytic activity.