Rhodium fluorapatite catalyst for the synthesis of trisubstituted olefins via cross coupling of Baylis-Hillman adducts and arylboronic acids.

Treatment of fluorapatite (prepared by incorporating basic species F(-) in apatite in situ by coprecipitation) with an aqueous solution of RhCl(3) resulted in rhodium-exchanged fluorapatite catalyst (RhFAP), which successfully promoted cross coupling of Baylis-Hillman adducts with arylboronic acids to yield trisubstituted olefins. A variety of arylboronic acids and Baylis-Hillman adducts were converted to the corresponding trisubstituted olefins, demonstrating the versatility of the reaction. The reaction is highly stereoselective. RhFAP was recovered quantitatively by simple filtration and reused with almost consistent activity.