Mechanistic Study of Catalysis in the Mizoroki–Heck Reaction with Anhydrides of Aromatic Acids

A kinetic study of reaction of alkene arylation by anhydrides of aromatic acids (modified Mizoroki–Heck reaction) was carried out using differential selectivity as the main measured parameter. The results obtained under conditions of competition between a pair of alkenes or a pair of aromatic anhydrides point to the occurrence of the reaction via a homogeneous mechanism of catalysis analogously to a conventional variant of reaction with aryl halides as arylating reagents. The hypothesis that the active catalyst is homogeneous agrees with the results of kinetic studies of processes of catalyst formation and deactivation.