Mechanistic study of palladium-catalyzed decarboxylative coupling of phenylpropiolic acid and aryl iodide

The mechanism of decarboxylative coupling of phenylpropiolic acid and methyl 4‐iodobenzoate was investigated by gas chromatographic analysis and monitoring the decarboxylation reaction by FT‐IR spectroscopy. Among many possible pathways, we found that the mechanism involves two possible pathways, namely the decarboxylation of phenylpropiolic acid and that proceeding through the carboxylated palladium complex. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. The mechanistic study by gas chromatographic analysis and FT‐IR spectroscopy suggested that there are two possible pathways A and B in decarboxylative coupling reactions.