PdCl2(bipy) complex (bipy = 2,2'-bipyrydine) efficiently catalyzes the vinylation of aryl halides. The activity of this catalyst for the Heck reactionwas demonstrated for a variety of aryl halides and olefins in the presence of different organic and inorganic bases. The catalyst is stable under the reaction conditions and no degradation was observed. The kinetics of the Heck coupling of styrene with iodobenzene using the PdCl2(bipy) complex with potassium acetate as a base was studied over a temperature range of 393-413 K in 2-nitro-2-methyl-1-propanol medium. An empirical rate model has been proposed to fit the observed data and is found to be in good agreement with experimental results. The activation energy of the reactionwas found to be 98.70 kJ/mol.