When used in combination with an alkali metal hydrogen carbonate or an alkali metal acetate, various tetraalkylammonium salts can greatly promote Heck-type reactions, independently of the nature of their anion, provided that the reactions are performed din the presence of molecular sieves. In particular, tetra-n-butylammonium hydrogen sulfate is just as effective as tetra-n-butylammonium chloride under these conditions.