Hydrothermal Heck reaction catalyzed by Ni nanoparticles

A novel environmentally benign Heck reaction using Ni nanoparticles as catalysts under hydrothermal conditions has been developed in the absence of phosphine ligands without the protection of an inert atmosphere. The results showed that the aryl iodides and bromides could carry out the coupling reaction with a variety of alkenes by hydrothermal treatment. More importantly, the cheap catalysts are stable under the reaction conditions and retain good to moderate activity for at least six successive runs without any additional activation treatment. This approach would be very useful from a practical viewpoint.