Fixing Ni2+ onto mesoporous SiO2-TiO2 through amino silane and application as a catalyst for Kumada cross coupling reaction for 1,1′-biphenyl synthesis

Biphenyl synthesis through cross coupling reaction holds significant importance in organic synthesis. In this research, development of heterogeneous Ni(II) catalyst for Kumada cross coupling reaction to produce 1,1′-biphenyl compounds was studied. We used mesoporous SiO2-TiO2 as support material and functionalized it with 3-aminopropyltriethoxylsilane (APTES) as a binding site, and then introduced Ni(II) as a catalytically active species. The synthesized catalysts were comprehensively characterized. Based on the results, it was concluded that the catalysts were successfully synthesized with Ni(II) being bound to amino group in APTES. The catalysts effectively promoted the reaction and the maximum yield of 92% with almost 100% selectivity was achieved at 50 °C and 6 h. The catalyst was reusable without severe deactivation in first reuse. Every components in the catalyst were indispensable for the catalyst to show high catalytic performance. The catalyst developed in this study exhibited the performance comparable to those of previously investigated catalysts