Reusable Immobilized Iron(II) Nanoparticle Precatalysts for Ligand-Free Kumada Coupling

A nanoparticle (NP)-based precatalyst has been developed for organic synthesis: sulfur-modified Au-supported Fe (SAFe). The SAFe was easily prepared through a three-step procedure involving simultaneous in situ metal NP and nanospace organization (PSSO). This method avoids the need for preformed templates for immobilizing and stabilizing the metal nanoparticles. On account of the relative safety and enormous earth abundance of iron, SAFe potentially represents an ideal precatalyst for carbon–carbon bond-forming cross-coupling reactions. As such, it has been applied as a precatalyst to Kumada coupling under ligand-free conditions, proving to be capable of being recycled and used repeatedly for this reaction. Analysis of SAFe and of reaction mixtures suggested that the active species in these reactions are produced in situ by assemblies of iron-based NPs.