Kazem Karami,*a Nasrin Haghighat Naeini,a Vaclav Eigner,b Michal Dusek,b
Janusz Lipkowski,c Pablo Herv´esd and Hossein Tavakol

The reaction of 3-phenylpropylamine with Pd(OAc)2 by heating in toluene resulted in the nearly squareplanar
complex trans-[Pd(C6H5(CH2)3NH2)2(OAc)2] (1). Complex 1 reacted with NaCl in methanol to
obtain the corresponding product trans-[Pd(C6H5(CH2)3NH2)2Cl2] (2). Treatment of 2 with
triphenylphosphine in dichloromethane afforded trans-[Pd(C6H5(CH2)3NH2)2(PPh3)2]2Cl
(3). All the
palladium(II) complexes (1–3) were fully characterized by IR and NMR spectroscopy. In addition, the
crystal structures of 1 and 2 were determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. In these
structures, the acetate and chloride ligands are in trans geometry. Density functional theory (DFT)
calculations gave bond lengths and angles that were noted as experimental values. Palladium
nanoparticles that were derived from complexes (1–3) were supported on cucurbit[6]uril (CB[6]) and
identified by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron
microscopy (TEM), inductively coupled plasma analysis (ICP) and high-resolution X-ray powder
spectroscopy (HR-XPS). CB[6]-supported palladium nanoparticles (NPs) were used as heterogeneous
catalysts for the aerobic oxidation of alcohols to the corresponding aldehydes or ketones without overoxidation.
CB[6]-Pd NPs (3) (prepared from complex 3) show better catalytic activity than CB[6]-Pd NPs
(1), (2), as a higher yield was observed with them in a relatively short time. Factors such as the amount of
catalyst, solvent, temperature and reaction time were all systematically investigated to determine their
effects on the yield of catalytic alcohol oxidation reactions. This catalytic system displayed high activity
and selectivity toward alcohols in mild conditions. The catalyst was reused five times without any
significant loss of catalytic activity.