Catalytic Applicability of Palladium-Based Nanostructured Metallogels for Tetrazole Formation and the Suzuki-Miyaura...

A gelator molecule, G8, was employed to fabricate functional palladium-based nanometallogels, namely, G8PdCl₂ and G8PdNPs, through coordination-driven self-assembly and in situ nanoparticle stabilization, respectively. The xerogel derived from G8PdCl₂ was utilized as an efficient heterogeneous catalyst for the [3 + 2] cycloaddition between the nitrile substituent and sodium azide, furnishing structurally diverse tetrazoles in high yields (>86%) across a broad substrate scope. In parallel, the xerogel of G8PdNPs demonstrated excellent catalytic efficiency in the Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling reaction, achieving biaryl products with yields consistently above 80%. Although these transformations are well-documented in palladium catalysis, the formation of catalysts from gel materials by easy techniques is not well-known, and the use of the G8PdCl₂ xerogel catalyst for the formation of tetrazole is an easy, time-effective, and cost-effective method. This study highlights the untapped potential of metallogels as dynamic platforms for sustainable catalysis and opens avenues for the rational design of multifunctional gel-based nanocomposites.