Iron‐catalyzed cross‐coupling reaction: Heterogeneous palladium and copper‐free Heck and Sonogashira cross‐coupling reactions catalyzed by a reusable Fe(III) complex

An interesting silica‐supported iron catalyst was successfully prepared and demonstrated as an efficient heterogeneous catalyst for cross‐coupling reactions of aryl halides. The as‐prepared nanocatalyst was well characterized and found to be highly efficient in Heck reaction under mild and sustainable conditions (water as solvent at 80 °C in short reaction time). Furthermore, the obtained catalyst was used as an efficient, inexpensive and green heterogeneous catalyst for Sonogashira cross‐coupling reactions of various aryl iodides and provided the corresponding products with moderate to good yields. This phosphine, copper and palladium‐free catalyst was simply recovered from the reaction mixture and recycled five times without substantial decrease in its catalytic activity.