Palladium Nanoparticles Anchored on Thiol Functionalized Xylose Hydrochar Microspheres: An Efficient Heterogeneous Catalyst for Suzuki Cross-Coupling Reactions

Abstract Novel thiol functionalized xylose hydrochar microspheres supported palladium nanoparticles (C–SH–Pd) were synthesized by gentle heating of palladium (II) acetate and thiol functionalized xylose hydrochar (C–SH) in ethanol. The as-prepared C–SH–Pd exhibited high catalytic activity towards Suzuki reactions with a yield of high up to 100%. Moreover, it could be reused for at least five times without heavily loss of the catalytic activity. The amount of palladium entrapped on C-SH microspheres was measured by AAS and found to be 1.42 mmol/g. Leaching studies showed that the filtrate contained less than 0.2 ppm Pd. Due to the superior catalytic performance and stability of the C–SH–Pd catalyst, it can be exploited in other cross coupling reactions in the long run. Graphic Abstract