Continuous-flow, palladium-catalysed alkoxycarbonylation reactions using a prototype reactor in which it is possible to load gas and heat simultaneously

A prototype tube-in-tube reactor in which it is possible to load gas and heat simultaneously has been used in a continuous-flow approach to alkoxycarbonylation reactions of aryl iodides. In the stainless steel coil, liquid flows on the outside of a gas-permeable membrane. The coil can be heated and the temperature can be measured accurately via a probe touching the outer steel surface. A range of aryl iodides can be transformed to the corresponding esters in excellent conversion by reaction at 120 degrees C using 0.5 mol% palladium acetate as the catalyst with no additional ligand required. Small-scale optimization and substrate screening runs were followed by scale-up.