Hydrocarboxylation of styrene in aqueous media with Pd-guanidinumphosphine systems

Hydrosoluble palladium complexes with guanidinumphosphine ligands are active catalyst precursors for the hydrocarboxylation of styrene forming the corresponding carboxylic acids using water as a solvent. The aryl guanidinum derivative is much more stable than the alkyl derivative studied and provided high selectivity in the acids with conversions up to 96%.