A Pd complex of the NNN pincer ligand supported on γ-Fe2O3@SiO2 was used as a new catalyst for a phosphonation reaction.

In this paper, palladium–DABCO complex supported on magnetic nanoparticles was successfully used as a new magnetically recoverable heterogeneous catalyst for the synthesis of arylphosphonates via P-arylation of different types of aryl halides (aryl iodides/bromides/chlorides and benzene boronic acid/sulfonate), with phosphite esters (triethyl/triphenyl/tri-iso-propyl/diethyl/diphenyl/di-iso-propyl phosphite) in neat water without using any additive. The heterogeneous catalyst was easily isolated from the reaction mixture by an external magnet and reused five times without significant degradation in its activity.