The new palladacycle catalyst 5 was synthesized, and this Pd catalyst showed high catalytic activity with turnover numbers of up to 8 900 000 (mol product per mol Pd) and turnover frequencies of up to 400 000 (mol product per mol Pd per h) in the coupling of aryl halides with olefins. This is the highest catalytic activity of all Heck reactions reported to date. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.