Palladiumsupported on a high-temperature-withstanding polymer, phenophthalein poly(ether sulfone) (PES-C), exhibits very high catalytic activity both in the carbonylation of allyl bromide and in the hydrogenation of 1-octene at 40 degrees C and atmospheric pressure. The initial activities are up to 345 mol CO/mol Pd min and 493 mol H-2/mol Pd min, respectively. The polymer-supported palladium catalysts prepared by refluxing the mixture of PdCl2 and PES-C immersed in benzene/ethanol (1/3, v/v) prior to the preparation of the catalyst show higher catalytic activity than those obtained by refluxing the mixture of PdCl2 and PES-C in benzene/ethanol. The Pd-containing PES-C membranes made from the polymer-supported palladium catalysts are endowed with a very specific permeability of H-2 and the corresponding Pd-containing membrane catalysts can also exhibit considerable catalytic activity for the hydrogenation of 1-octene.