Palladium‐Catalyzed Cross‐Coupling of Alkenyl Carboxylates

Carboxylate esters have many desirable features as electrophiles for catalytic cross‐coupling: they are easy to access, robust during multistep synthesis, and mass‐efficient in coupling reactions. Alkenyl carboxylates, a class of readily prepared non‐aromatic electrophiles, remain difficult to functionalize through cross‐coupling. We demonstrate that Pd catalysis is effective for coupling electron‐deficient alkenyl carboxylates with arylboronic acids in the absence of base or oxidants. Furthermore, these reactions can proceed by two distinct mechanisms for C?O bond activation. A Pd^0/II catalytic cycle is viable when using a Pd⁰ precatalyst, with turnover‐limiting C?O oxidative addition; however, an alternative pathway that involves alkene carbopalladation and β‐carboxyl elimination is proposed for Pd^II precatalysts. This work provides a clear path toward engaging myriad oxygen‐based electrophiles in Pd‐catalyzed cross‐coupling.     

Palladium‐Catalyzed Migratory Insertion of Isocyanides: An Emerging Platform in Cross‐Coupling Chemistry

Isocyanides have been important building blocks in organic synthesis since the discovery of the Ugi reaction and related isocyanide‐based multicomponent reactions. In the past decade isocyanides have found a new application as versatile C₁ building blocks in palladium catalysis. Palladium‐catalyzed reactions involving isocyanide insertion offer a vast potential for the synthesis of nitrogen‐containing fine chemicals. This Minireview discusses all the achievements in this emerging field.     

A General Palladium‐Catalyzed Hiyama Cross‐Coupling Reaction of Aryl and Heteroaryl Chlorides

A general palladium‐catalyzed Hiyama cross‐coupling reaction of aryl and heteroaryl chlorides with aryl and heteroaryl trialkoxysilanes by a Pd(OAc)₂/ L2 catalytic system is presented. A newly developed water addition protocol can dramatically improve the product yields. The conjugation of the Pd/ L2 system and the water addition protocol can efficiently catalyze a broad range of electron‐rich, ‐neutral, ‐deficient, and sterically hindered aryl chlorides and heteroaryl chlorides with excellent yields within three hours and the catalyst loading can be down to 0.05 mol % Pd for the first time. Hiyama coupling of heteroaryl chlorides with heteroaryl silanes is also reported for the first time. The reaction can be easily scaled up 200 times (100 mmol) without any degasification and purification of reactants; this facilitates the practical application in routine synthesis.     

Synthesis and Functionalization of Allenes by Direct Pd‐Catalyzed Organolithium Cross‐Coupling

A palladium‐catalyzed cross‐coupling between in situ generated allenyl/propargyl‐lithium species and aryl bromides to yield highly functionalized allenes is reported. The direct and selective formation of allenic products preventing the corresponding isomeric propargylic product is accomplished by the choice of SPhos or XPhos based Pd catalysts. The methodology avoids the prior transmetalation to other transition metals or reverse approaches that required prefunctionalization of substrates with leaving groups, resulting in a fast and efficient approach for the synthesis of tri‐ and tetrasubstituted allenes. Experimental and theoretical studies on the mechanism show catalyst control of selectivity in this allene formation.     

Photoinduced Palladium‐Catalyzed Negishi Cross‐Couplings Enabled by the Visible‐Light Absorption of Palladium–Zinc Complexes

A visible‐light‐induced Negishi cross‐coupling is enabled by the activation of a Pd⁰–Zn complex. With this photocatalytic method, the scope of deactivated aryl halides that can be employed in the Negishi coupling was significantly expanded. NMR experiments conducted in the presence and absence of light confirmed that the formation of the palladium–zinc complex is key for accelerating the oxidative addition step.     

Fast,Efficient and Low E‐Factor One‐Pot Palladium‐Catalyzed Cross‐Coupling of (Hetero)Arenes

The homocoupling of aryl halides and the heterocoupling of aryl halides with either aryl bromides or arenes bearing an ortho‐lithiation directing group are presented. The use of a Pd catalyst, in combination with t‐BuLi, allows for the rapid and efficient formation of a wide range of polyaromatic compounds in a one pot procedure bypassing the need for the separate preformation of an organometallic coupling partner. These polyaromatic structures are obtained in high yields, in 10 min at room temperature, with minimal waste generation (E‐factors as low as 1.5) and without the need for strict inert conditions, making this process highly efficient and practical in comparison to classical methods. As illustration, several key intermediates of widely used BINOL‐derived structures are readily prepared.     

One‐Pot Tandem Photoredox and Cross‐Coupling Catalysis with a Single Palladium Carbodicarbene Complex

The combination of conventional transition‐metal‐catalyzed coupling (2 e^? process) and photoredox catalysis (1 e^? process) has emerged as a powerful approach to catalyze difficult cross‐coupling reactions under mild reaction conditions. Reported is a palladium carbodicarbene (CDC) complex that mediates both a Suzuki–Miyaura coupling and photoredox catalysis for C?N bond formation upon visible‐light irradiation. These two catalytic pathways can be combined to promote both conventional transition‐metal‐catalyzed coupling and photoredox catalysis to mediate C?H arylation under ambient conditions with a single catalyst in an efficient one‐pot process.     

Using N‐Tosylhydrazone as a Double Nucleophile in the Palladium‐Catalyzed Cross‐Coupling Reaction To Synthesize Allylic Sulfones

Without extra addition of sulfinate salt, allylic sulfones were synthesized by palladium‐catalyzed cross‐coupling of aryl iodide with N‐tosylhydrazone. In this transformation, not only the diazo compound but also the sulfinate salt, which were both generated in situ from base‐mediated decomposition of the N‐tosylhydrazone, was used as nucleophilic partner.     

Palladium‐Catalyzed Direct Cross‐Coupling of Carboranyllithium with (Hetero)Aryl Halides

A palladium‐catalyzed direct C‐arylation reaction of readily available cage carboranyllithium reagents with aryl halides has been developed for the first time. This method is applicable to a wide range of aryl halide substrates including aryl iodides, aryl bromides, and heteroaromatic halides.     

Reductive Cross‐Coupling of Conjugated Arylalkenes and Aryl Bromides with Hydrosilanes by Cooperative Palladium/Copper Catalysis

A method for the reductive cross‐coupling of conjugated arylalkenes and aryl bromides with hydrosilanes by cooperative palladium/copper catalysis was developed, thus resulting in the highly regioselective formation of various 1,1‐diarylalkanes, including a biologically active molecule. Under the applied reaction conditions, high levels of functional‐group tolerance were observed, and the reductive cross‐coupling of internal alkynes with aryl bromides afforded trisubstituted alkenes.     

Iridium‐Catalyzed Selective Cross‐Coupling of Ethylene Glycol and Methanol to Lactic Acid

An atom‐economic approach that has an unprecedented high selectivity for the synthesis of lactic acid (LA) based on a catalytic dehydrogenative cross‐coupling by using inexpensive bulk ethylene glycol and methanol is described. This method relies on the synthesis and utilization of a novel iridium catalyst bearing three N‐heterocyclic carbenes derived from 1,3‐dimethylbenzimidazolium salts, and exhibits outstanding activity in the production of LA [turnover frequency (TOF) up to 3660 h^?1] owing to an elegant metal–ligand cooperation.     

tBuLi‐Mediated One‐Pot Direct Highly Selective Cross‐Coupling of Two Distinct Aryl Bromides

A Pd‐catalyzed direct cross‐coupling of two distinct aryl bromides mediated by tBuLi is described. The use of [Pd‐PEPPSI‐IPr] or [Pd‐PEPPSI‐IPent] as catalyst allows for the efficient one‐pot synthesis of unsymmetrical biaryls at room temperature. The key for this selective cross‐coupling is the use of an ortho‐substituted bromide that undergoes lithium–halogen exchange preferentially.     

A Polystyrene‐Cross‐Linking Tricyclohexylphosphine: Synthesis,Characterization and Applications to Pd‐Catalyzed Cross‐Coupling Reactions of Aryl Chlorides

A polystyrene‐cross‐linking tricyclohexylphosphine (PS‐TCP) was synthesized through radical emulsion polymerization of 4‐tert‐butylstyrene as a monomer and tris(trans‐4‐styrylcyclohexyl)phosphine as a threefold cross‐linker. The PS‐TCP showed enhanced ligand performance compared to the corresponding polystyrene‐triphenylphosphine hybrid PS‐TPP and tricyclohexylphosphine in Pd‐catalyzed Suzuki–Miyaura and Buchwald–Hartwig reactions of aryl chlorides.     

Synergistic N‐Heterocyclic Carbene/Palladium‐Catalyzed Reactions of Aldehyde Acyl Anions with either Diarylmethyl or Allylic Carbonates

Benzylation and allylation of aldehyde acyl anions were enabled by the merger of a thiazolium N‐heterocyclic carbene (NHC) catalyst and a palladium/bisphosphine catalyst in a synergistic manner. Owing to the mildness of the reaction conditions, various functional groups were tolerated in the substrates.     

Addressing Challenges in Palladium‐Catalyzed Cross‐Coupling Reactions Through Ligand Design

The development of palladium‐catalyzed cross‐coupling reactions has revolutionized the synthesis of organic molecules on both bench‐top and industrial scales. While significant research effort has been directed toward evaluating how modifying various reaction parameters can influence the outcome of a given cross‐coupling reaction, the design and implementation of novel ancillary ligand frameworks has played a particularly important role in advancing the state‐of‐the‐art. This Review seeks to highlight notable examples from the recent chemical literature, in which newly developed ancillary ligands have enabled more challenging substrate transformations to be addressed with greater selectivity and/or under increasingly mild conditions. Throughout, the importance and subtlety of ligand effects in palladium‐catalyzed cross‐coupling reactions are described, in an effort to inspire further development and understanding within the field of ancillary ligand design.