In the synthesis of 2,2,2-trifluoroethyl-substituted acrylamides, two-stage palladium-catalysis is indicated experimentally, including oxidative alkylation of Pd II to Pd IV by [I III Mes-(CH 2 CF 3 )] + (Besset et al., Chem. Commun., 2021, 57, 6241). For N-(quinolin-8-yl)-2-(phenyl)acrylamide [LH 2 = H 2 CC(Ph)− C(O)−NH∼N], studied by density functional theory herein, the first stage involves palladium acetate-promoted NH-deprotonation and concerted metalation-deprotonation CH-activation for Pd-(OAc) 2 (LH 2 ), followed by the transfer of [CH 2 CF 3 ] + from I III to give a Pd IV intermediate that undergoes reductive elimination to form the acrylamide-CH 2 CF 3 linkage. The second stage employs [Pd(LH)(NCMe)] + as the catalyst, with steps including outer-sphere CH-activation by triflate and crucial roles for Pd IV , acetonitrile solvent, and N-protonation of the product by triflic acid to form [LH 2 (CH 2 CF 3 )] + .In an apparently unique process, the first stage is faster than the second and produces the catalyst, but the second stage is catalytic to provide high yields of the product.