Isolation and characterization of an iodide bridged dimeric palladium complex in carbonylation of methanol

Palladium-catalyzed carbonylation of methanol in presence of iodide promoters was investigated. Iodide bridged palladium dimeric complex, [PPh₃CH₃]₂[Pd₂I₆] was isolated from the carbonylation reaction mixture and characterized using X-ray crystallography. Reaction mechanism was proposed based on IR and UV spectroscopic characterizations of catalytic species involved in the catalytic cycle. The isolated dimeric palladium species, [Pd₂I₆]²⁻ underwent carbonylation to give monomeric species [PdI₃CO]⁻ at atmospheric pressure of carbon monoxide. It was also observed that PPh₃ plays an important role to avoid catalyst deactivation at higher temperatures. Turnover frequency (TOF) of 1052 h⁻¹ was achieved using Pd(OAc)₂-HI-PPh₃ catalyst system at 175 °C.