A 30-ml four-necked flask was equipped with a stirrer, a thermometer and a reflux condenser. 1.000 g (5 mmol) of 4-dimethylaminobromobenzene, 1.001 g (10 mmol) of methyl methacrylate, 0.011 g (0.012 mmol) of tris(dibenzylideneacetone)dipalladium (0), 1.074 g (5.5 mmol) of dicyclohexylmethylamine and 5 ml of tetrahydrofuran were weighed in the flask, followed by stirring. Further, 0.029 g (0.05 mmol) of tri-tert-butylphosphonium tetra-para-tolylborate obtained in Example B-3 was weighed in air and added into the flask. The flask was purged with argon, followed by stirring at 30° C. for 25 hours. After the completion of the reaction, 5 ml of toluene and 10 ml of saturated sodium chloride solution were added, followed by separation. The organic phase was purified by column chromatography to afford 0.954 g of (E)-3-(4-dimethylaminophenyl)-2-methylacrylic acid methyl ester (yield: 87 mol % based on 4-dimethylaminobromobenzene). The identification of the product was made by H-NMR and 3C-NMR.
