Solventless Dimethylamine Borane Dehydrogenation in the Presence of Transition Metal(0) Nanoparticles Loaded on Cellulose

Herein, the results of in-situ synthesis of four different metal(0) nanoparticles (Pd, Cu, Ru, and Ni) loaded on the surface of cellulose (MNPs@Cellulose) separately and their catalytic use in the solventless dimethylamine-borane (DMAB) dehydrogenation at 35.0 +/- 0.1 degrees C are reported. Based on the detailed kinetic studies on the solventless DMAB dehydrogenation catalyzed using MNPs@Cellulose, the following results were obtained: (i) Optimum metal loading percentage on the surface of cellulose was determined for Pd@Cellulose to be 4.0 wt.%Pd (152.39 h(-1)), Ni@Cellulose to be 3.0 wt.%Ni (59.09 h(-1)), Cu@Cellulose to be 3.0 wt.%Cu (55.45 h(-1)) and Ru@Cellulose to be 4.0 wt.%Ru (46.06 h(-1)) and by determining total turnover frequency values in average 10(th) minutes (TOF10), which provided the highest catalytic activity. (ii) The optimum amount of cellulose for each metal was found to be 50.0 mg for Pd, Cu, and Ru, and 40.0 mg for Ni. (iii) The Arrhenius activation energies were determined for each metal nanoparticles and calculated to be 69 +/- 2, 34 +/- 2, 35 +/- 2 and 42 +/- 2 kj.mol(-1) for Pd@Cellulose, Ni@Cellulose, Cu@Cellulose, and Ru@Cellulose, respectively.