Toward a Greener Barluenga-Valdés Cross-Coupling: Microwave-Promoted C-C Bond Formation with a Pd/PEG/H2O Recyclable Catalytic System.

A green Barluenga-Valdés cross-coupling reaction for the synthesis of 1,1-diarylethylenes using palladium catalysis has been developed. The new catalytic system based on Pd/Xphos-SO3Na or Pd/MeDavephos-CF3SO3 in PEG/H2O under microwave irradiation was found to be the best conditions for this transformation. The recyclability of the palladium catalyst system was also studied, and it was found to be active over nine runs without significant loss in its activity.