Formation of Pyramidal Palladium Enhanced by B(C6F5)3 Additive Enabling Selective Alkene Monoisomerization.

The addition of a strong Lewis acid, tris-(pentafluorophenyl)-borane, facilitates the reduction of Pd-(cod)-Cl2 with Et3SiH to form palladium nanoparticles in organic solvents. It was found that these palladium nanoparticles are capable of selective monoisomerization of linear alkenes. This heterogeneous palladium catalyst is tolerant of a wide variety of functional groups, confirmed by substrate and robustness screenings. It is also possible to utilize poly-(methylhydro)-siloxane, an industrial waste byproduct, as the reductant to enable similar isomerization chemistry.