A variety of palladium on activated carbon catalysts differing in Pd dispersion, Pd distribution, Pd oxidation state, and water content were tested in Heck reactions of aryl bromides with olefins. The optimization of the catalyst (structure–activity relationship) and reaction conditions (temperature, solvent, base, and Pd loading) allowed Pd/C catalysts with very high activity for Heck reactions of unactivated bromobenzene (turnover number (TON)≈18 000, turnover frequency (TOF) up to 9000, Pd concentrations down to 0.005 mol %) to be developed. High Pd dispersion, low degree of reduction, sufficient content of water, and uniform Pd impregnation are criteria for the most active system. The catalysts combine high activity and selectivity under ambient conditions (air and moisture), easy separation (filtration), and quantitative recovery of palladium. Determination of Pd in solution after and during the reaction, and catalyst characterization before and after the reaction (transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD)), indicate dissolution/reprecipitation of palladium during the reaction. The Pd concentration in solution is highest at the beginning of the reaction and is a minimum (<1 ppm) at the end of the reaction. Palladium leaching correlates significantly with the reaction parameters.

A specially optimized air-stable Pd on activated carbon catalyst is demonstrated to be a highly active (TON up to 36,000), selective and convenient heterogeneous catalyst for CC couplings of aryl halides in Heck, Suzuki, and Sonogashira reactions. The Pd/C catalyst developed allows extremely low Pd concentrations (down to 0.0025 mol% for Heck coupling, 0.005 mol% for Suzuki coupling) and high conversions of aryl bromides within a few hours. Easy and complete Pd separation and recovery is possible.