Ordered interface mesoporous immobilized Pd pre-catalyst: En/Pd complexes embedded inside the SBA-15 as an active, reusable and selective phosphine-free hybrid catalyst for the water medium Heck coupling process.

A series of Pd-complexes of amine and diamine ligands embedded into the ordered silica mesoporous (PdX2@SBA-15/NY, Y=1, 2) are synthesized. Among them, the covalently bonded Pd(OAc)2/ethylenediamine complex into the SBA-15 exhibit higher activity and selectivity toward Mizoroki-Heck cross-coupling reaction. The Pd(OAc)2@SBA-15/En pre-catalyst could be separated easily from reaction products and used repetitively several times, showing the superiority over the homogeneous catalysts for industrial and chemical applications.