A Homogeneous, Recyclable Rhodium(I) Catalyst for the Hydroarylation of Michael Acceptors

A robust and practical polymer-supported, recyclable biphephos rhodium(I) catalyst has been developed. Control of polymer molecular weight allowed the tuning of solubility such that the polymer-supported catalyst is soluble in nonpolar solvents and not soluble in polar solvents. Thus, catalytic addition of aryl- and vinylboronic acids to enones occurs under completely homogeneous conditions and catalyst recycle can be achieved by simple precipitation and filtration.