Supported Ionic Liquid Phase Containing Palladium Nanoparticles on Functionalized Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes: Catalytic Materials for Sequential Heck Coupling/Hydrogenation Process

Well‐dispersed palladium nanoparticles have been prepared in ionic liquids in the presence of 4‐(3‐phenylpropyl)pyridine under dihydrogen. These nanoparticles are immobilized onto multiwalled carbon nanotubes modified with imidazolium moieties ( f CNTs). The resulting catalytic materials are tested in hydrogenation and Heck coupling reactions. Analogous Pd nanoparticles dispersed in ionic liquids have also been immobilized on silica for comparative purposes. f CNTs are found to be the best support for both hydrogenation and Heck coupling, being recycled up to four times without significant activity loss. Palladium nanoparticles supported on f CNTs are used as a single catalytic precursor for the CC coupling/ hydrogenation sequential process using [EMI][HP(O) 2 OMe] (EMI=1‐ethyl‐3‐methyl imidazolium) ionic liquid phase without addition of supplementary base.