LAUSR

Abstract Cu@Al nano-materials were easily fabricated by immersing Al foil in related metal salt solutions. Although simple Cu@Al was a poor catalyst, after Fe and Cl doping, it became highly active in Suzuki coupling reactions of aryl iodides with aryl boric acids and led to very high product yields (up to 99%) with extremely high catalyst turnover numbers (TON up to 9.1 × 103 mol/mol). Fe/Cl doping affected the morphologies of the materials, endowing more active sites as well as facilitating better contact with the reaction substrates. This is the first report on cheap metal “tea bag” style catalyst, which can be easily removed, overcoming the interruptions by the generated insoluble by-products or tars during the reaction processes.