LAUSR

Abstract Development of a facile and greener approach for Heck reaction using a modified PAN supported palladium catalyst is described. The preparation of the catalyst involves a simple process through amidoxime modification of nitrile group in Polyacrylonitrile (PAN), followed by the complexation with Palladium chloride (PdCl2). The resulting supported catalyst was characterized by spectroscopic analyses and further by computational studies. This polymer supported Palladium complex displayed excellent catalytic activity in Heck coupling reaction of a series of activated alkenes and aryl halides and afforded the corresponding coupling products upto 96% isolated yield. After the reaction, the catalyst was easily recovered by simple filtration and recycled with excellent stability and activity even after 5 runs. This is the first report on the use of amidoxime functionalized PAN- Palladium (II) complex as a heterogeneous catalyst in Heck coupling reaction.