Palladium compounds are used as a catalyst in many coupling reactions, usually as a homogeneous catalyst. Examples include:
Typical palladium catalysts used include the following compounds:
Unoptimized reactions typically use 10-15 mol% of palladium; where optimized, catalyst loadings can be on the order of 0.1 mol % or below. Many exotic ligands and chiral catalysts have been reported, but they are largely not available commercially, and do not find widespread use. Much work is being done on replacing the phosphine ligands with other classes, such as Arduengo-type carbene complexes, as the phosphine ligands are typically oxygen sensitive (easily oxidized), and are labile (requiring additional free ligands).
With these reactions becoming ubiquitous, there has been interest in better techniques for removing the palladium catalyst. Metal scavengers such as Smopex[1] or resins such as QuadruPure[2] and ISOLUTE[3] promise more efficient separation than ordinary column chromatography.
In 2010, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Richard F. Heck, Ei-ichi Negishi and Akira Suzuki for their work on palladium-catalyzed cross couplings in organic synthesis.[4]