Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling of aryl chlorides catalyzed by palladium precatalysts of N/O-functionalized pyrazolyl ligands

Article abstract of DOI:10.1016/j.ica.2010.04.006

A series of palladium complexes, trans-[1-(R)-pz3,5-Me2]2PdCl₂ {R = CH₂CONH(2,6-i-Pr₂-C₆H₃) (1b) and 2-(OH)-C₆H₁₀ (2b)}, supported over N/O-functionalized pyrazole derived ligands effectively catalyzed the more challenging Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling of a variety of activated aryl chlorides with phenyl boronic acid in air in a mixed-aqueous medium (DMF:H₂O, v/v = 9:1) in moderate to excellent yields. Besides the commonly encountered C _sp2-C_sp2 coupling, the 1b and 2b precatalysts also catalyzed the relatively difficult C_sp2-C_sp3 coupling of benzyl chloride with phenyl boronic acid. The 1b and 2b complexes were synthesized by the direct reaction of the respective N/O-functionalized pyrazolyl ligands, 1a and 2a, with (COD)PdCl₂ in 62-66% yields. The stability of the pyrazole-palladium interaction in the 1b and 2b complexes has been attributed to the deeply buried N_pyrazole-Pd interaction as evidenced from the density functional theory (DFT) studies.