Ethyl acrylate coupling with benzene

Heteropolyoxametalates are often used in combination with palladium salts as catalysts in oxidation processes using dioxygen as the oxidant. Indeed, the oxidative coupling reaction of benzenes with alkenes was also successfully achieved by use of the Pd(OAc)2/molybdovanadophosphoric acid (HPMoV)/02 system [14a]. For example, reaction of benzene with ethyl acrylate using this catalytic system in acetic acid afforded ethyl cinnamate as a major product in satisfactory yield. Typically, the reaction is conducted in acetic acid at 90 °C under 1 bar of 02. After 6 h the TON is 15. This number was recently improved to 121 [14b]. 

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