Silver nanoparticles doped TiO₂ catalyzed Suzuki-coupling of bromoaryl with phenylboronic acid under visible light

The formation of the carbon‑carbon bond in the synthetic chemistry explored in many ways. Suzuki-cross coupling is one of the ways to make bonds between two carbon atoms of similar molecules or different molecules. CC bond was successfully formed between two aryl rings of aryl halides and phenylboronic acid at room temperature and atmospheric pressure under the visible illuminance. In this work we report, an in-situ synthesis of silver nanoparticles doped TiO₂ nanoparticles (NPs) and studied its catalytic activity as an eco-friendly, simple, recyclable and efficient catalyst for one-pot Suzuki-coupling of bromoaryl with phenylboronic acid under visible light. Only, 45 mg of the catalyst resulted in a 98% conversion of p-ethyl bromobenzene with a 97% yield of p-ethyl biphenyl using toluene as the solvent in the presence of visible light at atmospheric pressure. The electron-donating groups (e.g., ethyl group) substituted bromobenzene resulted in the maximum yields than that of the substitution with the electron-withdrawing groups. The catalyst shown significant catalytic activity up to seven recycling runs without any loss. The doping of silver nanoparticles boosted the catalytic activity at titanium dioxide surface as well as inside the pores. The high surface area of the semiconductor support provides the sites for accommodated silver nanoparticles and shows enhanced reactivity towards the coupling reaction of bromoaryl with phenylboronic acid. The as-synthesized catalyst was thoroughly characterized by XRD, TEM, EDX, XPS, FTIR, TGA, UV-vis, Raman and BET analysis. The high recyclability of the photocatalyst remarked the footprints in the CC coupling reactions.