Larock indole synthesis using palladium complexes immobilized onto mesoporous silica

Heterogeneous palladium catalysts were prepared by covalent immobilization of palladium (II) complexes of the general formula PdCl₂L₂ (L = P, CN) onto SBA-15 silica using a post-synthetic method. The state of the hybrid materials was characterized using a wide variety of molecular and solid-state techniques. In general, all the palladium modified solids exhibited highly ordered mesostructures while keeping the integrity of the parent molecular precursors. The catalytic performances of the materials were evaluated in the heteroannulation of 2-iodoaniline and 2-bromoaniline with triethyl(phenylethynyl)silane which showed high activities and selectivities with isolated yields in the range of 80-85%. Despite a decrease in the initial activity, quantitative conversion of iodoaniline to the expected product was observed over multiple recyclings, making these materials particularly efficient for such applications. The catalytic process was shown to be homogeneous in nature, the solid apparently serving as a "reservoir" for the metal between cycles.