First determination of the rate acceleration of a palladium-catalysed coupling reaction by use of high pressure

Abstract

The activation volume, ΔV‡, reflecting the rate acceleration by pressure, of the coupling reaction between 2,3-dihydrofuran and iodobenzene is determined as –12 ± 2 cm–3 by kinetic measurements at pressures between 1 bar and 8 kbar; moreover, our kinetic data suggest that the rate-determining step is not the oxidative addition of iodobenzene to the palladium catalyst.