The milling ball is the catalyst. We introduce a palladium-catalyzed reaction inside a ball mill, which makes catalyst powders, ligands, and solvents obsolete. We present a facile and highly sustainable synthesis concept for palladium-catalyzed C-C coupling reactions, exemplarily showcased for the Suzuki polymerization of 4-bromo or 4-iodophenylboronic acid giving poly(para-phenylene). Surprisingly, we observe one of the highest degrees of polymerization (199) reported so far.
Keywords: Suzuki cross-coupling; heterogeneous catalysis; mechanochemistry; poly(para-phenylene); sustainable chemistry.
© 2019 The Authors. Published by Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA.