Design and fabrication of chitosan functionalized magnetic composite anchored Ru nanoparticles as a sustainable organometallic nanocatalyst for Suzuki-Miyaura coupling

Abstract

In this research, a magnetic nanocatalyst referred to as Fe₃O₄/Si@CS-Ru NPs was created through the initial formation of Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles coated by silica layers, followed by the modification of the surface with chitosan, and concluding with the incorporation of Ru nanoparticles as the active catalytic elements. The resulting structure delivers a durable, magnetically recyclable nanocomposite with exceptional catalytic performance. Advanced characterization techniques, including SEM, TEM, EDX, EDX-Mapping, VSM, and ICP-OES, were applied to validate the properties and chemical structure of the nanocatalyst. The developed nanocatalyst was applied in the Suzuki-Miyaura coupling to create C–C bonds. The Fe₃O₄/Si@CS-Ru NPs displayed a high level of catalytic efficiency, showing excellent results with a range of aromatic halides. Additionally, the catalyst shown impressive magnetic recyclability, maintaining its efficacy even after 7 reaction cycles. A hot filtration experiment confirmed the heterogeneous nature of the catalyst, as no leaching was detected throughout the reaction procedure.