Pd‐PEPPSI‐IPent‐SiO2: A Supported Catalyst for Challenging Negishi Coupling Reactions in Flow

A silica‐supported precatalyst, Pd‐PEPPSI‐IPent‐SiO₂, has been prepared and evaluated for its proficiency in the Negishi cross‐coupling of hindered and electronically deactivated coupling partners. The precatalyst Pd‐PEPPSI‐IPent loaded onto packed bed columns shows high catalytic activity for the room‐temperature coupling of deactivated/hindered biaryl partners. Also for the first time, the flowed Csp³–Csp² coupling of secondary alkylzinc reagents to (hetero)aromatics has been achieved with high selectivity with Pd‐PEPPSI‐IPent‐SiO₂. These couplings required residence times as short as 3 minutes to effect completion of these challenging transformations with excellent selectivity for the nonrearranged product.     

Manganese‐Catalyzed Hydrofunctionalization of Alkenes

The manganese‐catalyzed hydrosilylation and hydroboration of alkenes has been developed using a single manganese(II) precatalyst and reaction protocol. Both reactions proceed with excellent control of regioselectivity and in high yields across a variety of sterically and electronically differentiated substrates (25 examples). Alkoxide activation, using NaO^tBu, was key to precatalyst activation and reactivity. Catalysis was achieved across various functional groups and on gram‐scale for both the developed methodologies with catalysts loadings as low as 0.5 mol %.     

Asymmetric Disulfonimide‐Catalyzed Synthesis of δ‐Amino‐β‐Ketoester Derivatives by Vinylogous Mukaiyama–Mannich Reactions

An organocatalytic asymmetric synthesis of δ‐amino‐β‐ketoester derivatives has been developed. A chiral disulfonimide (DSI) serves as a highly efficient precatalyst for a vinylogous Mukaiyama–Mannich reaction of readily available dioxinone‐derived silyloxydienes with N‐Boc‐protected imines, delivering products in excellent yields and enantioselectivities. The synthetic utility of this reaction is illustrated in various transformations, including a new C? C bond‐forming reaction, which provide useful enantioenriched building blocks. The methodology is applied in a formal synthesis of (?)‐lasubin.     

PEG Click‐Triazole Palladacycle: An Efficient Precatalyst for Palladium‐Catalyzed Suzuki‐Miyaura and Copper‐free Sonogashira Reactions in Neat Water

A novel water‐soluble, phosphine‐free PEG "click" triazole palladacycle has been successfully synthesized. As a precatalyst, the palladacycle exhibited superior catalytic activity towards Suzuki‐Miyaura and copper‐free Sonogashira cross‐coupling in neat water with the turnover numbers (TONs) of up to 9.8×10⁵. In addition, the catalyst could be reused at least 3 times without significant loss of reactivity.     

Selective Monoarylation of Primary Amines Using the Pd‐PEPPSI‐IPentCl Precatalyst

A single set of reaction conditions for the palladium‐catalyzed amination of a wide variety of (hetero)aryl halides using primary alkyl amines has been developed. By combining the exceptionally high reactivity of the Pd‐PEPPSI‐IPent^Cl catalyst (PEPPSI=pyridine enhanced precatalyst preparation, stabilization, and initiation) with the soluble and nonaggressive sodium salt of BHT (BHT=2,6‐di‐tert‐butyl‐hydroxytoluene), both six‐ and five‐membered (hetero)aryl halides undergo efficient and selective amination.     

Phase‐Separable Polyisobutylene Palladium‐PEPPSI Precatalysts: Synthesis and Application in Buchwald–Hartwig Amination

This paper reports the efficient synthesis of the first class of polyisobutylene(PIB)‐supported palladium‐PEPPSI precatalyst (PEPPSI = pyridine‐enhanced precatalyst preparation, stabilization, and initiation). The new complexes are employed in Buchwald–Hartwig amination of aryl chlorides and are found to be reasonably active in the titled cross‐coupling reaction. The supported catalysts are tested in polar (1,4‐dioxane and 1,2‐dimethoxyethane) as well as in aliphatic reaction media (toluene and n‐heptane) and display superior activity in the highly lipophilic solvent (n‐heptane). The catalytic efficacy of PIB‐Pd‐PEPPSI precatalyst is measured to be comparable to its nonsupported analog. Pd‐leaching is determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP‐MS) after a simple liquid/liquid extraction and is found to be 2 ppb in the product phase, translating into a recovery of ≈99.8% of the palladium.     

An Efficient Zinc‐Catalyzed Dehydration of Primary Amides to Nitriles

In the present study, the zinc‐catalyzed dehydration of a variety of amides with N‐methyl‐N‐(trimethylsilyl)trifluoroacetamide (MSTFA) as a dehydration reagent into the corresponding nitriles has been examined in detail. With the straightforward and commercially available zinc(II)triflate as the precatalyst and MSTFA, an excellent system has been established to afford nitriles in excellent yields and chemoselectivities. After investigation of reaction conditions and the scope and limitations, several efforts were carried out to understand the reaction mechanism.     

Ni(COD)(DQ): An Air‐Stable 18‐Electron Nickel(0)–Olefin Precatalyst

We report that Ni(COD)(DQ) (COD=1,5‐cyclooctadiene, DQ=duroquinone), an air‐stable 18‐electron complex originally described by Schrauzer in 1962, is a competent precatalyst for a variety of nickel‐catalyzed synthetic methods from the literature. Due to its apparent stability, use of Ni(COD)(DQ) as a precatalyst allows reactions to be conveniently performed without use of an inert‐atmosphere glovebox, as demonstrated across several case studies.     

Iron‐Catalyzed Reductive Ethylation of Imines with Ethanol

The borrowing hydrogen strategy has been applied to the ethylation of imines with an air‐stable iron complex as precatalyst. This approach opens new perspectives in this area as it enables the synthesis of unsymmetric tertiary amines from readily available substrates and ethanol as a C₂ building block. A variety of imines bearing electron‐rich aryl or alkyl groups at the nitrogen atom could be efficiently reductively alkylated without the need for molecular hydrogen. The mechanism of this reaction, which shows complete selectivity for ethanol over other alcohols, has been studied experimentally and by means of DFT computations.     

Direct Catalytic Enantio‐ and Diastereoselective Ketone Aldol Reactions of Isocyanoacetates

A catalytic asymmetric aldol addition/cyclization reaction of unactivated ketones with isocyanoacetate pronucleophiles has been developed. A quinine‐derived aminophosphine precatalyst and silver oxide were found to be an effective binary catalyst system and promoted the reaction to afford chiral oxazolines possessing a fully substituted stereocenter with good diastereoselectivities and excellent enantioselectivities.     

A Cooperative N‐Heterocyclic Carbene/Chiral Phosphate Catalysis System for Allenolate Annulations

The highly enantioselective NHC‐catalyzed [3+2] annulation reaction with α,β‐alkynals and α‐ketoesters has been developed. A new mode of cooperative catalysis involving the combination of a chiral Brønsted acid and a C₁‐symmetric biaryl saturated‐imidazolium precatalyst was required to generate the desired γ‐crotonolactones in high yields and levels of enantioselectivity.     

Direct Catalytic Enantio‐ and Diastereoselective Mannich Reaction of Isocyanoacetates and Ketimines

A catalytic asymmetric synthesis of imidazolines with a fully substituted β‐carbon atom by a Mannich‐type addition/cyclization reaction of isocyanoacetate pronucleophiles and N‐diphenylphosphinoyl ketimines has been developed. When a combination of a cinchona‐derived aminophosphine precatalyst and silver oxide was employed as a binary catalyst system, good reactivity, high diastereoselectivities (up to 99:1 d.r.), and excellent enantioselectivities (up to 99 % ee) were obtained for a range of substrates.     

Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes Supported Pd(II)‐Salen Complex: An Effective,Phosphorous‐Free,and Reusable Heterogeneous Precatalyst for the Synthesis of Diaryl Ketones

The Suzuki–Miyaura cross‐coupling reaction of aroyl chlorides and arylboronic acids has been carried out efficiently in the presence of Pd(II)‐salen@MWCNTs as an air‐moisture stable precatalyst. The influence of various parameters, such as solvent, temperature, and base on the reaction system, was studied. Furthermore, the catalyst can be easily recovered quantitatively by a simple filtration and reused for three consecutive runs without significant loss of its activity.     

Suzuki–Miyaura coupling reactions of aryl chlorides catalyzed by a new nickel(II) σ‐aryl complex

A new nickel(II) σ‐aryl complex, trans‐chloro(9‐phenanthrenyl)bis(triphenylphosphine)nickel(II), was used as a precatalyst for the Suzuki–Miyaura coupling reactions of aryl chlorides. The catalytic conditions were optimized by investigating the cross‐coupling of p‐chloroanisole with phenylboronic acid. The results show that this complex is efficient for both electron‐rich and electron‐deficient aryl chlorides, though it gives better yields for activated arylboronic acids than deactivated ones. All isolated cross‐coupled biaryl products have been characterized by ¹H and ¹³C NMR, and their spectral data are consistent with those reported. Side products from the coupling of arylboronic acid with the precatalyst complex have also been isolated and characterized, which is helpful for understanding the coupling mechanism. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Palladium‐Catalyzed N‐Arylation of Iminodibenzyls and Iminostilbenes with Aryl‐ and Heteroaryl Halides

Compounds containing the iminodibenzyl and iminostilbene ring systems are prevalent in medicinal targets and functional materials. Herein, we report palladium‐catalyzed conditions for the N‐arylation of these ring systems. This protocol could be applied to a variety of (hetero)aryl chloride and bromide substrates, including ones, which are sterically hindered or those containing a variety of functional groups. Use of the fourth‐generation palladacycle precatalyst gave good to excellent yields by using low palladium‐catalyst loadings (0.1 to 1 mol %).     

Polymerization of 1‐olefins by zirconium/titanium precatalysts with O,N,O‐ligating atoms—can aggregation of catalyst be inferred from the reaction profile?

The 2‐[benzyl‐(2‐hydroxy‐2‐phenylethyl)‐amino]‐1‐phenylethanol ligand (1‐H₂) prepared as a diastereomeric mixture or in racemic and meso forms, from known procedure, has been disodiated and complexed with ZrCl₄. The precatalysts (mix‐1‐ZrCl₂, rac‐1‐ZrCl₂, and meso‐1‐ZrCl₂) were used in combination with methylaluminoxane and found to be active for the polymerization of 1‐hexene and 1‐octene. The high molecular weight polyhexenes (PHs) and polyoctenes (POs) thus obtained were isotactic in nature and showed a negligible amount of end groups arising from the chain termination reactions. In PHs and POs, there was linear correlation in the modified Arrhenius plot (the natural logarithm of the number‐average molecular weight vs. the reciprocal of the temperature), indicating the presence of a single active species. The enantiomerically pure titanium precatalyst ((R,R)‐1‐TiCl₂), when employed for the polymerization of 1‐hexene, was found to be active and the modified Arrhenius plot showed linear dependence demonstrating presence of a single active species. The analogous titanium precatalysts (mix‐1‐TiCl₂, rac‐1‐TiCl₂, and meso‐1‐TiCl₂) obtained from known procedures were also found to be active for the polymerization of 1‐octene. The rac‐1‐TiCl₂ precatalyst demonstrated a sigmoidal behavior in the modified Arrhenius plot for the POs and the mix‐1‐TiCl₂ precatalyst showed an exponential type of behavior. The obtained POs seemed to have small amounts of chain termination via β‐hydride elimination alone. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 45: 3599–3610, 2007     

A Nickel‐Catalyzed Carbonyl‐Heck Reaction

The use of transition‐metal catalysis to enable the coupling of readily available organic molecules has greatly enhanced the ability of chemists to access complex chemical structures. In this work, an intermolecular coupling reaction that unites organotriflates and aldehydes is presented. A unique catalyst system is identified to enable this reaction, featuring a Ni⁰ precatalyst, a tridentate Triphos ligand, and a bulky amine base. This transformation provides access to a variety of ketone‐containing products without the selectivity‐ and reactivity‐related challenges associated with more traditional Friedel–Crafts reactions. A Heck‐type mechanism is postulated, wherein the π bond of the aldehyde takes the role of the olefin in the insertion/elimination steps.     

Is PdII‐Promoted σ‐Bond Metathesis Mechanism Operative for the PdPEPPSI Complex‐Catalyzed Amination of Chlorobenzene with Aniline? Experiment and Theory

Reduction of the Pd?PEPPSI precatalyst to a Pd⁰ species is generally thought to be essential to drive Buchwald–Hartwig amination reactions through the well‐ documented Pd⁰/Pd^II catalytic cycle and little attention has been paid to other possible mechanisms. Considered here is the Pd?PEPPSI‐catalyzed aryl amination of chlorobenzene with aniline. A neat reaction system was used in new experiments, from which the potentially reductive roles of the solvent and labile ligand of the PEPPSI complex in leading to Pd⁰ species are ruled out. Computational results demonstrate that anilido‐containing Pd^II intermediates involving σ‐bond metathesis in pathways leading to the diphenylamine product have relatively low barriers. Such pathways are more favorable energetically than the corresponding reductive elimination reactions resulting in Pd⁰ species and other putative routes, such as the Pd^II/Pd^IV mechanism, single electron transfer mechanism, and halide atom transfer mechanism. In some special cases, if reactants/additives are inadequate to reduce a Pd^II precatalyst, a Pd^II‐involved σ‐bond metathesis mechanism might be feasible to drive the Buchwald–Hartwig amination reactions.     

Well‐Defined Four‐Coordinate Iron(II) Complexes For Intramolecular Hydroamination of Primary Aliphatic Alkenylamines

Despite the growing interest in iron catalysis and hydroamination reactions, iron‐catalyzed hydroamination of unprotected primary aliphatic amines and unactivated alkenes has not been reported to date. Herein, a novel well‐defined four‐coordinate β‐diketiminatoiron(II) alkyl complex is shown to be an excellent precatalyst for the highly selective cyclohydroamination of primary aliphatic alkenylamines at mild temperatures (70–90 °C). Both empirical kinetic analyses and the reactivity of an isolated iron(II) amidoalkene dimer, [LFe(NHCH₂CPh₂CH₂CH?CH₂)]₂ favor a stepwise σ‐insertive mechanism that entails migratory insertion of the pendant alkene into an iron–amido bond associated with a rate‐determining aminolysis step.     

Alkaline‐Earth‐Catalyzed Dehydrocoupling of Amines and Boranes

Dehydrocoupling reactions between the boranes HBpin and 9‐borabicyclo[3.3.1]nonane and a range of amines and anilines ensue under very mild reaction conditions in the presence of a simple β‐diketiminato magnesium n‐butyl precatalyst. The facility of the reactions is suggested to be a function of the Lewis acidity of the borane substrate, and is dictated by resultant pre‐equilibria between, and the relative stability of, magnesium hydride and borohydride intermediates during the course of the catalysis.