Aqueous Suzuki coupling reaction catalyzed by water-soluble diimine/Pd(II) systems

A series of water-soluble diimine ligands were applied for the Suzuki reaction of arylbromide in different media. Low loading of catalyst (0.01 mol%) were necessary for the coupling reaction to proceed in water or water/ethanol. The catalytic system was found to tolerate a broad range of functional groups.