Polymer-Supported Pd Nanoparticles for Solvent-Free Hydrogenation

Abstract

Breaking the trade-off between activity and stability of supported metal catalysts has been a long-standing challenge in catalysis, especially for metal nanoparticles (NPs) with high hydrogenation activity but poor stability. Herein, we report a porous poly(divinylbenzene) polymer-supported Pd NP catalyst (Pd/PDVB) with both high activity and excellent stability for the solvent-free hydrogenation of nitrobenzene, even at ambient temperature (25 °C) and H₂ pressure (0.1 MPa). Pd/PDVB gave a turnover frequency as high as 22,632 h^–1 at 70 °C and 0.4 MPa, exceeding 5556 h^–1 of the classical Pd/C catalyst under equivalent conditions. Mechanistic studies reveal that the polymer support benefits the desorption of the aniline product from the Pd surface, which is crucial for rapid hydrogenation under solvent-free conditions. In addition, the polymer support in Pd/PDVB efficiently hindered Pd leaching, resulting in good stability.