Abstract
A magnetically recoverable Fe3O4/CoPd/NC nanocatalyst was synthesized via controlled pyrolysis of a Pd-loaded ZIF-67 precursor. Characterization confirmed the formation of bimetallic CoPd nanoparticles (~ 3.5 nm) embedded in a nitrogen-doped carbon matrix. The catalyst showed high efficiency in Suzuki–Miyaura coupling, yielding 78% under mild conditions (60 °C, EtOH/H2O). The superior activity stems from the electronic synergy between Co and Pd. This system offers rapid magnetic separation and excellent reusability, providing a sustainable solution for bimetallic heterogeneous catalysis.
Data availability
All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this article.
References
Veisi, H., Karmakar, B., Mohammadi, P. & Tamoradi, T. Joshani, others, metal catalyst supported on modified carbon nano tubes (CNTs) for cross-coupling reactions. Inorg. Chem. Commun. 156, 110979 (2023).
Andrade, M. A. & Martins, L. M. D. R. S. New trends in c–c cross-coupling reactions: the use of unconventional conditions. Molecules 25, 5506 (2020).
Zhou, A. et al. Pd@ZIF-67 derived recyclable Pd-Based catalysts with hierarchical pores for High-Performance heck reaction. ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng. 6, 2103–2111 (2018).
Li, Y. et al. Reaction scope and mechanistic insights of nickel-catalyzed migratory Suzuki–Miyaura cross-coupling. Nat. Commun. 11, 417 (2020).
Wang, X., Dai, Y. & Gong, H. Nickel-Catalyzed reductive couplings. Top. Curr. Chem. 374, 61–89 (2016).
Cheng, L. & Mankad, N. P. Chem Soc rev C – C and C – X coupling reactions of unactivated alkyl electrophiles using copper catalysis. Chem. Soc. Rev. 49, 8036–8064 (2020).
Tandon, R., Tandon, N. & Patil, S. M. Overview on magnetically recyclable ferrite nanoparticles: synthesis and their applications in coupling and multicomponent reactions. RSC Adv. 11, 29333–29353 (2021).
Meringdal, J. W. & Menche, D. Suzuki–Miyaura (hetero-) Aryl cross-coupling: recent findings and recommendations. Chem. Soc. Rev. 54, 5746–5765 (2025).
Veerakumar, P., Thanasekaran, P., Lu, K. L., Lin, K. C. & Rajagopal, S. Computational studies of versatile heterogeneous Palladium-Catalyzed Suzuki, Heck, and Sonogashira coupling reactions. ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng. 5, 8475–8490 (2017).
Mpungose, P. P., Vundla, Z. P., Maguire, G. E. M. & Friedrich, H. B. The current status of heterogeneous palladium catalysed heck and Suzuki cross-coupling reactions. Molecules 23, 1676 (2018).
Zhang, F. et al. Pd immobilized on amine-functionalized magnetite nanoparticles: a novel and highly active catalyst for hydrogenation and heck reactions. Green Chem. 13, 1238–1243 (2011).
Chen, L., Rangan, S., Li, J., Jiang, H. & Li, Y. A molecular Pd (ii) complex incorporated into a MOF as a highly active single-site heterogeneous catalyst for C–Cl bond activation. Green Chem. 16, 3978–3985 (2014).
Khalafi-Nezhad, A. & Panahi, F. Size-controlled synthesis of palladium nanoparticles on a silica–cyclodextrin substrate: A novel palladium catalyst system for the heck reaction in water. ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng. 2, 1177–1186 (2014).
Espallargas, G. M. & Coronado, E. Magnetic functionalities in mofs: from the framework to the pore. Chem. Soc. Rev. 47, 533–557 (2018).
Sultana, A., Kathuria, A. & Gaikwad, K. K. Metal–organic frameworks for active food packaging. A review. Environ. Chem. Lett. 20, 1479–1495 (2022).
Guan, W. et al. Fabrication of a magnetic nanocomposite photocatalysts Fe3O4@ ZIF-67 for degradation of dyes in water under visible light irradiation. J. Solid State Chem. 255, 150–156 (2017).
Mostafavi, M. M. & Movahedi, F. Fe3O4/MIL-101 (Fe) nanocomposite as an efficient and recyclable catalyst for Strecker reaction. Appl. Organomet. Chem. 32, 4217 (2018).
Paquin, F., Rivnay, J., Salleo, A., Stingelin, N. & Silva, C. Multi-phase semicrystalline microstructures drive exciton dissociation in neat plastic semiconductors. J. Mater. Chem. C. 3, 10715–10722 (2015).
Luo, S., Li, X., Zhang, B., Luo, Z. & Luo, M. MOF-derived Co3O4@ NC with core–shell structures for N2 electrochemical reduction under ambient conditions. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces. 11, 26891–26897 (2019).
Liu, X. et al. Iron containing metal–organic frameworks: structure, synthesis, and applications in environmental remediation. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces. 9, 20255–20275 (2017).
Su, T. Y., Lu, G. P., Sun, K. K., Zhang, M. & Cai, C. ZIF-derived metal/N-doped porous carbon nanocomposites: efficient catalysts for organic transformations. Catal. Sci. Technol. 12, 2106–2121 (2022).
Liao, G. Y., Lien, M. C., Tadepalli, S. & Liu, K. K. Plasmonic nanostructures-decorated ZIF-8-derived nanoporous carbon for surface-enhanced Raman scattering. ACS Omega. 7, 36427–36433 (2022).
Qiu, B. et al. Highly dispersed Co-based Fischer – Tropsch. J. Mater. Chem. A. 74, 8081–8086 (2017).
Zhang, T. et al. Synthesis of Fe 3 O 4 @ ZIF-8 magnetic core – shell microspheres and their potential application in a capillary microreactor. J. Chem. Eng. 228, 398–404 (2013).
Shao, M. et al. Preparation of Fe3O4@ SiO2@ layered double hydroxide core–shell microspheres for magnetic separation of proteins. J. Chem. Eng. 134, 1071–1077 (2012).
Yang, L., Jin, Y., Fang, X., Cheng, Z. & Zhou, Z. Magnetically Recyclable Core-Shell Structured Pd-Based Catalysts for Semi-Hydrogenation of Phenylacetylene Magnetically Recyclable Core-Shell Structured Pd-Based Catalysts for Semi-Hydrogenation of Phenylacetylene, Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 56 (2017) 14182–14191.
Ding, S. et al. Fabrication of Pd@ ZIF-8 catalysts with different Pd Spatial distributions and their catalytic properties. J. Chem. Eng. 296, 146–153 (2016).
Chen, Y. et al. Insight into the influence of the graphite layer and Cobalt crystalline on a ZIF-67-Derived catalyst for Fischer-Tropsch synthesis. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces. 13, 9885–9896 (2021).
Wang, Z., Liu, Y., Gao, C., Jiang, H. & Zhang, J. A porous Co(OH)2 material derived from a MOF template and its superior energy storage performance for supercapacitors. J. Mater. Chem. A. 3, 20658–20663 (2015).
Aghayi-Anaraki, M. & Safarifard, V. Fe3O4@ MOF magnetic nanocomposites: Synthesis and applications, Eur. J. Inorg. Chem. 1916–1937. (2020).
Li, Q. et al. Synthesis of magnetically recyclable ZIF-8@ SiO2@ Fe3O4 catalysts and their catalytic performance for Knoevenagel reaction. J. Solid State Chem. 223, 65–72 (2015).
Hu, Y., Zheng, S. & Zhang, F. Fabrication of MIL-100(Fe)@SiO2@Fe3O4 core-shell microspheres as a magnetically recyclable solid acidic catalyst for the acetalization of benzaldehyde and glycol. Front. chem. eng. 10, 534–541 (2016).
Yang, Q. et al. Liu, others, regulating the Spatial distribution of metal nanoparticles within metal-organic frameworks to enhance catalytic efficiency. Nat. Commun. 8, 1–9 (2017).
Patil, S. M., Tandon, R. & Tandon, N. Magnetically recoverable silica-decorated ferromagnetic-nanoceria nanocatalysts and their use with O-and N butyloxycarbonylation reaction via solvent-free condition. ACS Omega. 7, 24190–24201 (2022).
Yang, L. et al. Composite nanomaterials based on black phosphorus and layered MOF for binary flooding enhanced oil recovery. J. Ind. Eng. Chem. (2025). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jiec.2025.09.016
Dong, R., Wang, L., Zhu, J., Liu, L. & Qian, Y. A novel SiO2–GO/acrylic resin nanocomposite: fabrication, characterization and properties. Appl. Phys. A: Mater. Sci. Process. 125, 551 (2019).
Rafiei, S. et al. Efficient biodiesel production using a lipase@ ZIF-67 nanobioreactor. J. Chem. Eng. 334, 1233–1241 (2018).
Sun, J., Xu, Z., Li, W. & Shen, X. Effect of nano-SiO2 on the early hydration of alite-sulphoaluminate cement. Nanomaterials 7, 1–15 (2017).
Lv, H., Liang, X., Ji, G., Zhang, H. & Du, Y. Porous three-dimensional flower-like Co/CoO and its excellent electromagnetic absorption properties. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces. 7, 9776–9783 (2015).
Lü, B., Qi, W., Luo, M., Liu, Q. & Guo, L. Fischer-Tropsch synthesis: ZIF-8@ZIF-67-Derived Cobalt Nanoparticle-Embedded nanocage catalysts. Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 59, 12352–12359 (2020).
Altuner, E. E. et al. Hydrogen production and photocatalytic activities from NaBH4 using trimetallic biogenic PdPtCo nanoparticles: development of machine learning model. Chem. Eng. Res. Des. Chem. Eng. 184, 180–190 (2022).
Yang, P., Zhang, L., Wei, X., Dong, S. & Ouyang, Y. Pd3Co1 alloy nanocluster on the MWCNT catalyst for efficient formic acid Electro-Oxidation. Nanomaterials 12, 4182 (2022).
Li, H. C., Liu, W. J., Han, H. X. & Yu, H. Q. Hydrophilic swellable metal–organic framework encapsulated Pd nanoparticles as an efficient catalyst for cr (VI) reduction. J. Mater. Chem. A. 4, 11680–11687 (2016).
Qiu, B. et al. Highly dispersed Co-based Fischer–Tropsch synthesis catalysts from metal–organic frameworks. J. Mater. Chem. A. 5, 8081–8086 (2017).
Sathya, A., Ravindran, T. R. & Philip, J. Superior thermal stability of polymer capped Fe3O4 magnetic nanoclusters. J. Am. Ceram. Soc. 101, 483–491 (2018).
Chen, B., Ma, G., Zhu, Y. & Xia, Y. Metal-organic-frameworks derived Cobalt embedded in various carbon structures as bifunctional electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction and evolution reactions. Sci. Rep. 7, 5266 (2017).
Yurdakal, S., Garlisi, C., Özcan, L., Bellardita, M. & Palmisano, G. (eds) (Photo) Catalyst Characterization Techniques: Adsorption Isotherms and BET, SEM, FTIR, UV–Vis, photoluminescence, and Electrochemical Characterizations 87–152 (Heterogeneous Photocatalysis, 2019).
Zhang, Y. et al. The pore size distribution and its relationship with shale gas capacity in organic-rich mudstone of Wufeng-Longmaxi Formations, Sichuan Basin, China. J. Nat. Gas Geoscience. 1, 213–220 (2016).
Islam, S. M., Salam, N., Mondal, P. & Roy, A. S. Highly efficient recyclable polymer anchored palladium catalyst for CC and CN coupling reactions. J. Mol. Catal. Chem. 366, 321–332 (2013).
Keesara, S., Parvathaneni, S., Dussa, G. & Mandapati, M. R. Polystyrene supported thiopseudourea Pd (II) complex: applications for Sonogashira, Suzuki-Miyaura, Heck, Hiyama and Larock heteroannulation reactions. J. Organomet. Chem. 765, 31–38 (2014).
Su, Y. et al. Robust C-PdNi-CNF sandwich-structured catalyst for Suzuki reactions and experimental study on the mechanism. ACS Omega. 7, 29747–29754 (2022).
Hoseini, S. J., Heidari, V. & Nasrabadi, H. Magnetic Pd/Fe3O4/reduced-graphene oxide nanohybrid as an efficient and recoverable catalyst for Suzuki–Miyaura coupling reaction in water. J. Mol. Catal. Chem. 396, 90–95 (2015).
Ding, S. Y. et al. Construction of covalent organic framework for catalysis: Pd/COF-LZU1 in Suzuki–Miyaura coupling reaction. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 133, 19816–19822 (2011).
Wang, J. C. et al. Pd@ COF-QA: a phase transfer composite catalyst for aqueous Suzuki–Miyaura coupling reaction. Green Chem. 22, 1150–1155 (2020).
Liu, J. et al. Palladium nanoparticles on covalent organic framework supports as catalysts for Suzuki–Miyaura cross-coupling reactions. ACS Appl. Nano Mater. 4, 6239–6249 (2021).
Adimule, V., Yallur, B. C., Pai, M. M., Batakurki, S. R. & Nandi, S. S. Biogenic synthesis of magnetic palladium nanoparticles decorated over reduced graphene oxide using Piper Betle petiole extract (Pd-rGO@ Fe3O4 NPs) as heterogeneous hybrid nanocatalyst for applications in suzuki-miyaura coupling reactions of biphenyl compounds. Top. Catal. 68, 1536–1549 (2025).
Acknowledgements
The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial and technical support provided by Isfahan University of Technology. Special thanks are extended to the Department of Chemistry for their valuable assistance and facilities.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
Author contributionsS. R. wrote the main manuscript and prepared figures. S.R. carried out experiments and characterisation of the samples. A.R.H. conceived the scientific idea. A.N.C. and A.R.H. carried out supervision activity. A.P. and S.P. participated in the characterization of samples and the discussion of the manuscript.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing interests.
Additional information
Publisher’s note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Supplementary Information
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, which permits any non-commercial use, sharing, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if you modified the licensed material. You do not have permission under this licence to share adapted material derived from this article or parts of it. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.
About this article
Cite this article
Rahimi, S., Najafi Chermahini, A., Hajipour, A.R. et al. Magnetically recoverable Fe3O4/CoPd/NC nanocatalyst for high-performance Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling reactions. Sci Rep (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-34753-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-34753-2