Maryam Raja - Department of Chemistry, School of Science, Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran
Samahe Sadjadi - Gas Conversion Department, Faculty of Petrochemicals, Iran Polymer and Petrochemicals Institute, Tehran,Iran
Majid M. Heravi - Department of Chemistry, School of Science, Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran
Fatemeh Ghoreyshi Kahangi - Department of Chemistry, University of Guilan, Rasht, Iran

Cyclodextrin nanosponge (CDNS), and sepiolite were hybridized to prepare a support for embedding Pd nanoparticles and creat a novel heterogeneous catalyst, Pd@CDNS-Sepiolite, which can promote ligand and copper-free Heck and Sonogashira coupling reactions under mild reaction condition. The obtained catalyst was characterized by using different characteristic methods, including FTIR, TGA, SEM/EDS, TEM, XRD, ICP/AES and BET and its ability as a heterogeneous catalyst for ligand and copper-free Heck and Sonogashira coupling reactions in aqueous media is proved. The catalytic activity of Pd@CDNS-Sepiolite was superior compared to that of Pd@Sepiolite and Pd@CDNS, indicating the synergism between sepiolite and CDNS. Also, the catalyst was recyclable after several reaction runs with slight Pd leaching and loss of the catalytic activity.

Sepiolite, Cyclodextrin nanosponge, Pd nanoparticles, C-C coupling reactions