Highly efficient and recyclable palladium catalyst anchored on organic-inorganic hybrid material: Application in the Heck reaction

Palladium anchored on organic-inorganic (silica gel) hybrid materials behaves as a very efficient heterogeneous catalyst in the Fleck reaction. Iodoarenes and bromoarenes react smoothly with alkenes to afford the corresponding cross-coupling products in good to excellent yields under phosphine- and amine-free reaction conditions in the presence of a palladium anchored on L-proline-functionalized silica gel as catalyst. The silica-supported palladium catalyst can be recovered and recycled by simple filtration of the reaction solution, and used for more than 14 consecutive trials without significant loss of its catalytic activity.