Activation of C-H, C-C and C-I bonds by Pd and cis-Pd(CO)2I2. Catalyst-substrate adaptation

The main source of the rise in activation energies that we find for cis-PdII(CO)2I2-compared to Pd0-catalyzed C-X bond activation is the activation strain. The latter appears to correlate with the strength of the activated C-X bond: both decrease along C-H, C-C and C-I.