Shed-Snakeskin valorisation into highly porous Co-containing nanocomposites for sustainable aqueous C–C bond formation reactions

A novel highly ordered network based on shed snakeskin has been employed as a sustainable/natural template, to fabricate efficient heterogeneous cobalt composite as catalyst by a nano-casting process. Characterization of the Cobalt nano-catalyst was investigated by several analysis methods including TEM, FESEM-EDS mapping, XRD, XPS, TGA, ICP, Raman, ATR, and N2 sorption and results verified the preparation of a nano-catalyst with highly ordered perforated structure, uniform pore size distribution, high surface area, and high stability. The nano-cobalt particles were uniformly disposed on the support with a particle size of about 100 nm, validated by various analysis methods. The catalytic performance of the synthesized catalyst was evaluated in the Suzuki-Miyaura reaction for Csp2–Csp2 bond formation in high yields (up to 97%) and excellent reactivity. The catalyst could also be recycled for at least 10 reaction runs without almost losing its activity (less than 10% after 10 runs). © 2022