Cyclopalladated ferrocenylimines: highly active catalysts for Heck reactions

A novel kind of ferrocene moiety containing palladacycle catalysts 1 and 2 was synthesized and applied to Heck arylation. High yields, turnover numbers and regioselectivity were achieved in moderate conditions. When 2.73×10−8 mol catalyst 2 was used to catalyze arylation of 0.1 mol iodobenzene with butyl acrylate, optimal results were obtained with 3.6×106 turnover number and 99% yield.