A magnetic porous chitosan-based palladium catalyst: a green, highly efficient and reusable catalyst for Mizoroki–Heck reaction in aqueous media

A novel, biodegradable and environmentally benign magnetic porous chitosan-thienyl imine palladium( ii ) complex, MPCS-TI/Pd, was prepared and characterized by FT-IR, SEM, TEM, EDX, XRD, BET, VSM and TG-DTA analysis. This complex, with high surface areas and low catalyst loading, was found to be a highly active and robust heterogeneous catalyst for the Mizoroki–Heck reaction of aryl bromides and chlorides with various terminal olefins in aqueous media in good to excellent yields. The catalyst was easily separated using an external magnet and the recovered catalyst was reused for seven cycles without significant loss of catalytic activity.