Palladium Nanoparticles on Silica Nanospheres for Switchable Reductive Coupling of Nitroarenes

In this study, we synthesized a robust and sustainable Pd/SiO 2 nanospheres catalyst. Further, its catalytic activity was demonstrated for the direct reductive coupling of nitroarenes under mild conditions. While the reaction with Pd nanoparticles on other supporting materials such as modified carbon materials and TiO 2 , under similar conditions, resulted formation of amines exclusively. Therefore, it was confirmed that the SiO 2 was found to be the best supporting material towards the selective reductive coupling of nitroarenes. Also, the catalyst could be recycled up to five cycles with a marginal loss of product yield (< 2% yield). Graphic Abstract