In this contribution,
we have reported our study on the
fine-tuned
design and synthesis of new POLITAGs-Pd0 (POLymeric Ionic
TAG) catalytic systems with the intention of defining highly efficient
heterogeneous palladium catalysts stabilized by ionic tags able to
operate at a very low loading while being fully recoverable/reusable.
By varying both the support and the ratio between the metal and immobilized
ionic tag, we have accessed five different heterogeneous catalytic
systems that have been fully characterized (EA, XPS, TEM, and HR-TEM)
to investigate their morphological differences. The catalytic efficiency
of the newly prepared POLITAGs-Pd0 materials was then tested
and compared in the representative Mizoroki–Heck cross-coupling
reaction, a universally investigated and widely useful process. A
close correlation between the catalyst support and catalytic performances
has been highlighted. The best system POLITAG-Pd0-HM features
a high TOF value (26,786 h–1), affording the final
products in high isolated yields by using as little as only 0.0007
mol % of Pd. Moreover, this high catalytic activity coupled with the
use of γ-valerolactone (GVL) as a green reaction medium has
led to the definition of a very efficient waste-minimized protocol.
The newly designed catalyst has been utilized in the representative
synthesis of Amiloxate, a widely used sunscreen agent, that could
be prepared with negligible metal contamination and very low E-factor.