Nonaqueous Ionic Liquids: Superior Reaction Media for the Catalytic Heck-Vinylation of Chloroarenes

Nonaqueous ionic liquids, that is molten salts, constitute an activating and stabilizing noninnocent solvent for the palladium-catalyzed Heck-vinylation of all types of aryl halides. Especially with chloroarenes an improved activity and stability of almost any known catalyst system is observed as compared to conventional, molecular solvents (e.g. dimethylformamide (DMF), dimethylacetamide (DMAc), N-methyl-2-pyrrolidinone (NMP), or dioxane). Thus, even catalytic amounts of ligand-free PdCl2 yield stilbene from technically interesting chlorobenzene and styrene in high yield (turnover number (TON) = 18) without the need for further promoting salt additives such as tetraphenylphosphonium chloride. The scope of the new reaction medium is outlined for the first time for the vinylation of various aryl halides using different mono- and disubstituted olefins as well as a variety of known palladium(0) and palladium(II) catalyst systems. Furthermore, a novel means of catalyst recycling is presented and its scope is evaluated.