Composites of Palladium–Nickel Alloy Nanoparticles and Graphene Oxide for the Knoevenagel Condensation of Aldehydes with Malononitrile

Herein, we have described uniformly dispersed palladium-nickel nanoparticles furnished on graphene oxide (GO-supported PdNi nanoparticles) as a powerful heterogeneous nanocatalyst for the promotion of Knoevenagel reaction between malononitrile and aromatic aldehydes under mild reaction conditions. The successful characterization of PdNi nanoparticles on the GO surface was shown by X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM), and TEM. GO-supported PdNi nanoparticles, which are used as highly efficient, stable, and durable catalysts, were used for the first time for the Knoevenagel condensation reaction. The data obtained here showed that the GO-supported PdNi nanocatalyst had a unique catalytic activity and demonstrated that it could be reused five times without a significant decrease in the catalytic performance. The use of this nanocatalyst results in a very short reaction time under mild reaction conditions, high recyclability, excellent catalytic activity, and a straightforward work-up procedure for Knoevenagel condensation of malononitrile and aromatic aldehydes.