Palladacycle containing nitrogen and selenium: highly active pre-catalyst for the Suzuki-Miyaura coupling reaction and unprecedented conversion into nano-sized Pd17Se15.

Newly synthesized, air and moisture insensitive palladacycle [PdCl(L-H)] (L = (C(6)H(5))(2-HOC(6)H(4))CHNH(CH(2))(3)SePh; a (N, Se, C(-)) ligand) shows high catalytic activity for the Suzuki-Miyaura coupling reaction of phenylboronic acid with aryl/heteroaryl chlorides/bromides (TON for aryl chlorides up to 9200) and is converted to approximately 8 nm size particles of Pd(17)Se(15) (probably the real catalyst).