Iminophosphine palladium(II) complexes: synthesis,characterization, and application in Heck cross‐coupling reaction of aryl bromides

Palladium(II) complexes containing phosphorus and nitrogen donor atoms (iminophosphine), dichlorido{N‐[2‐(diphenylphosphino)benzylidene]‐2‐trifluoromethylaniline}palladium(II) 1 , dichlorido{N‐[2‐(diphenylphosphino)benzylidene]‐3‐trifluoromethylaniline}palladium(II) 2 , dichlorido{N‐[2‐(diphenylphosphino)benzylidene]‐2‐methylaniline}palladium(II) 3 , dichlorido{N‐[2‐(diphenylphosphino)benzylidene]‐3‐methylaniline}palladium(II) 4 have been successfully synthesized and fully characterized by FT‐IR and NMR (¹H, ³¹P, ¹⁹F, and ¹³C) spectroscopy techniques. These complexes were first step tested in the reaction of bromobenzene and styrene to determine the optimal coupling reaction conditions and then successfully applied as catalysts for Heck cross‐coupling reactions of activated and deactivated aryl bromides with styrene derivatives and several acrylates. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.