Palladium-catalysed cross-coupling reactions, central tools in fine-chemical synthesis, predominantly employ soluble metal complexes despite recognized challenges with product purification and catalyst reusability^1,2,3. Attempts to tether these homogeneous catalysts on insoluble carriers have been thwarted by suboptimal stability, which leads to a progressively worsening performance due to metal leaching or clustering⁴. The alternative application of supported Pd nanoparticles has faced limitations because of insufficient activity under the mild conditions required to avoid thermal degradation of the substrates or products. Single-atom heterogeneous catalysts lie at the frontier^{5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18}. Here, we show that the Pd atoms anchored on exfoliated graphitic carbon nitride (Pd-ECN) capture the advantages of both worlds, as they comprise a solid catalyst that matches the high chemoselectivity and broad functional group tolerance of state-of-the-art homogeneous catalysts for Suzuki couplings, and also demonstrate a robust stability in flow. The adaptive coordination environment within the macroheterocycles of ECN facilitates each catalytic step. The findings illustrate the exciting opportunities presented by nanostructuring single atoms in solid hosts for catalytic processes that remain difficult to heterogenize.

Graphitic carbon nitride (g‐C₃N₄) exhibits unique properties as a support for single‐atom heterogeneous catalysts (SAHCs). Understanding how the synthesis method, carrier properties, and metal identity impact the isolation of metal centers is essential to guide their design. This study compares the effectiveness of direct and postsynthetic routes to prepare SAHCs by incorporating palladium, silver, iridium, platinum, or gold in g‐C₃N₄ of distinct morphology (bulk, mesoporous and exfoliated). The speciation (single atoms, dimers, clusters, or nanoparticles), distribution, and oxidation state of the supported metals are characterized by multiple techniques including extensive use of aberration‐corrected electron microscopy. SAHCs are most readily attained via direct approaches applying copolymerizable metal precursors and employing high surface area carriers. In contrast, although post‐synthetic routes enable improved control over the metal loading, nanoparticle formation is more prevalent. Comparison of the carrier morphologies also points toward the involvement of defects in stabilizing single atoms. The distinct metal dispersions are rationalized by density functional theory and kinetic Monte Carlo simulations, highlighting the interplay between the adsorption energetics and diffusion kinetics. Evaluation in the continuous three‐phase semihydrogenation of 1‐hexyne identifies controlling the metal–carrier interaction and exposing the metal sites at the surface layer as key challenges in designing efficient SAHCs.