Efficient palladium(II) catalysis under air. Base-free oxidative heck reactions at room temperature or with microwave heating.

Scope and limitations of the base-free oxidative Heck reaction with arylboronic acids have been explored. Under our conditions, the dmphen-palladium(II)-catalyzed arylation proceeded with air or p-benzoquinone as reoxidants of palladium(0). We found that ambient temperature and mild aerobic conditions allow for the use of substrates sensitive to palladium(II)-catalyzed oxidation. Oxidative Heck couplings, employing different arylboronic acids, were smoothly and regioselectively conducted with both electron-rich and electron-poor olefins, providing high yields even with disubstituted butyl methacrylate, sensitive acrolein, and a vinylboronate ester. Controlled microwave processing was used to reduce reaction times from hours to minutes both in small scale and in 50 mmol scale batch processes.