Ultrasound assisted synthesis of Pd NPs decorated chitosan-starch functionalized FeO nanocomposite catalyst towards Suzuki-Miyaura coupling and reduction of 4-nitrophenol.

In recent days the nanomagnetic biocomposites have been evolved as sustainable green catalysts. In that context, we are prompted to design and synthesize a novel Pd NP adorned chitosan-starch dual biopolymer encapsulated core-shell type magnetic nanocomposite (FeO@CS-Starch/Pd) in an eco-friendly pathway applying ultrasound irradiations. The morphological and physicochemical features of the material were determined using several advanced techniques like FT-IR, FESEM, HRTEM, EDX, atomic mapping, VSM, XRD and ICP-OES. Catalytic efficiency of the material was investigated in the ultrasound assisted classical Suzuki-Miyaura coupling towards the synthesis of diverse range of biaryl derivatives and in the catalytic reduction of 4-Nitrophenol.In both the protocols the catalyst exhibited excellent performances. Sonication had a significant role in enhancing the catalytic performances in both the reactions as compared to conventional heating. Due to super-paramagnetism, the catalyst was easily magnetically isolable and reused in 11 cycles without considerable leaching and change in reactivity.