A self-assembled supramolecular solid for catalytic application

A 1,8-naphthalenecarboxylic anhydride-4,5-dicarboxylate (L) bridged copper(II) dimeric molecular module [Cu2L2(DMF)2(H2O)2] (1) can self-organize into a solid-state supramolecular architecture. The combination of the multitopic contact sites of hydrogen bonds coupled with two bulky aromatic cores promoted the molecule to self-link into a solid-state supramolecular architecture, which was almost insoluble in water and common organic solvents. Solid 1 can heterogeneously catalyze the cross-coupling of arylboronic acids with imidazole in the absence of a base or additive to generate the corresponding coupling products in excellent yields in methanol at 50 °C, which can be recovered and recycled by a simple filtration and was used for six consecutive cycles with consistent activity.