A ferrocene-templated Pd-bearing molecular reactor.

The high-yield, chromatography-free syntheses of the ferrocene-templated molecular cage and its Pd-bearing derivative, are presented. The formation of the symmetric cage-type structure was confirmed by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. The Pd-bearing cage was used as an innovative catalyst for the efficient synthesis of 1,1′-biphenyls at mild conditions. The presented catalyst is reusable and 1,1′-biphenyl can be obtained efficiently in a gram scale process.