Simple synthesis of Pd-Fe3O4 heterodimer nanocrystals and their application as a magnetically recyclable catalyst for Suzuki cross-coupling reactions

A simple gram-scale synthesis of Pd-Fe3O4 heterodimer nanocrystals was achieved by controlled one-pot thermolysis of a mixture solution composed of iron acetylacetonate, palladium acetylacetonate, oleylamine, and oleic acid. The heterodimer nanocrystals are composed of a 6 nm-sized Pd nanosphere and a 30 nm-sized faceted Fe3O4 nanocrystal and they are soft ferrimagnetic with high saturation magnetization value and low coercivity value. The heterodimer nanocrystals exhibited good activities for various Suzuki coupling reactions. Furthermore, the nanocrystal catalyst could be easily separated from the product mixture by using a magnet and could be recycled 10 times without losing catalytic activity.