Development of a general palladium-catalyzed carbonylative Heck reaction of aryl halides.

The first general palladium-catalyzed carbonylative vinylation of aryl halides with olefins in the presence of CO has been developed. Applying a catalyst system consisting of (cinnamyl)PdCl and bulky imidazolyl-phosphine ligand L1 allows for the efficient and selective synthesis of α,β-unsaturated ketones under mild reaction conditions. Starting from easily available aryl halides and olefins, versatile building blocks can be prepared in a straightforward manner. The generality and functional group tolerance of this novel protocol is demonstrated.