In situ formation of dispersed palladium nanoparticles in microemulsion: efficient reaction system for ligand-free Heck reaction.

The ligand-free Heck reaction catalyzed by Pd(OAc)2 performed well in a TX10 oil-in-water microemulsion. TEM proved in situ formation distributed palladium nanoparticles in the microemulsion. The role of TX10 in the reaction system is the palladium nanoparticles reducing agent and stabilizer. The effect of reaction parameters on the Heck reaction conversion were discussed. The results indicated that the aqueous phase concentration, the base concentration, and the temperature played key roles in the conversion of the reaction. Iodobenzene was converted to the corresponding trans-stilbene quantitatively within 90-150 min. Therefore, the heptane/TX 10/butanol/water/propylene glycol microemulsion containing in situ formed palladium nanoparticles was a very efficient catalyst system for the ligand-free Heck reaction.