With a well-designed iron catalyst, it is easy to make Suzuki-Miyaura couplings, US researchers show in ACS Catalysis.

Catalysis must be efficient. That is why transition metals such as palladium, platinum and rhodium are in high demand. The only drawback is that they are relatively rare and sometimes toxic. Catalysis with iron would be ideal, as it is one of the most abundant (and therefore cheapest) metals. Paul Peterson, Paul Chirik and colleagues at Princeton University have now achieved this with the Suzuki-Miyaura coupling. Normally, this involves using palladium catalysts, but by tweaking them, you can use iron as well.