The Mizoroki-Heck Reaction in Tunable Aryl Alkyl Ionic Liquids

Abstract

We report the use of imidazolium based tunable aryl alkyl ionic liquids (TAAILs) as solvents in the Mizoroki–Heck reaction. Different commercially available palladium sources, inorganic bases, TAAILs and reaction conditions were tested for the synthesis of trans-stilbene using bromobenzene and styrene. A variety of different stilbene derivatives were synthesized with exclusive formation of the (E)-isomers and isolated yields up to 97 %. We were able to optimize the reaction conditions using only 0.25 mol% of Pd(OAc)2 as the catalyst and a reaction time of 4 hours. No additional ligands or additives are used in the reaction. The catalytic system using TAAILs achieved higher yields than commercially available imidazolium and phosphonium ionic liquids, demonstrating the potential of tailored ionic liquids as a reaction medium for the Mizoroki–Heck reaction.