Preparation and Catalysis of a Tri‐coordinated Copper(I) Complex with Bulky P˜N Ligand

Coordination of a bulky pyridinyl‐phosphine ( P?N ) ligand toward CuBr was investigated. However, this P?N donor behaves as a monodentate via the coordination of phosphine to form a bromide bridged dimeric [( P?N )Cu(μ‐Br)₂Cu( P?N )], which was characterized by spectral and crystal structural analysis. It appeared that the “PCu(μ‐Br)₂CuP” unit is planar with a short distance between Cu…Cu' [2.7585(9) Å]. The catalytic activity on Sonogashira coupling of phenylacetylene with aryl halides was studied.