Microbial engineering of nano-heterostructures; biological synthesis of a magnetically-recoverable palladium nanocatalyst

Precious metals supported on ferrimagnetic particles form a diverse range of catalysts. Here we show a novel biotechnological route for the synthesis of a heterogeneous catalyst consisting of reactive palladium nanoparticles arrayed on a biomagnetite support. The magnetic support was synthesized at ambient temperature by the Fe(III)-reducing bacterium, Geobacter sulfurreducens, and facilitated ease of recovery of the catalyst with superior performance due to reduced agglomeration. Arrays of palladium nanoparticles were deposited on the nanomagnetite using a simple one-step method without the need to modify the biomineral surface most likely due to an organic coating priming the surface for Pd adsorption. A combination of EXAFS and XPS showed the particles to be predominantly metallic in nature. The Pd{sup 0}-biomagnetite was tested for catalytic activity in the Heck Reaction coupling iodobenzene to ethyl acrylate or styrene and near complete conversion to ethyl cinnamate or stilbene was achieved within 90 and 180 min, respectively