Kinetic and electrochemical studies of the oxidative addition of demanding organic halides to Pd(0): the efficiency of polyphosphane ligands in low palladium loading cross-couplings decrypted.

Oxidative addition (OA) of organic halides to palladium(0) species is a fundamental reaction step which initiates the C-C bond formation catalytic processes typical of Pd(0)/Pd(II) chemistry. The use of structurally congested polyphosphane ligands in palladium-catalyzed C-C bond formation has generated very high turnover numbers (TONs) in topical reactions such as Heck, Suzuki, Sonogashira couplings, and direct sp(2)C-H functionalization. Herein, the OA of aryl bromides to Pd(0) complexes stabilized by ferrocenylpolyphosphane ligands L1 (tetraphosphane), L2 (triphosphane), and L3 (diphosphane) is considered. The investigation of kinetic constants for the addition of Ph-Br to Pd(0) intermediates (generated by electrochemical reduction of Pd(II) complexes coordinated by L1-L3) is reported. Thus, in the OA of halides to the Pd(0) complex coordinated by L1 the series of rate constants kapp is found (mol(-1) L s(-1)): kapp(Ph-Br) = 0.48 > kapp(ClCH2-Cl) = 0.25 ≫ kapp(p-MeC6H4-Br) = 0.08 ≈ kapp(o-MeC6H4-Br) = 0.07 ≫ kapp(Ph-Cl). Kinetic measurements clarify the influence that the presence of four, three, or two phosphorus atoms in the coordination sphere of Pd has on OA. The presence of supplementary phosphorus atoms in L1 and L2 unambiguously stabilizes Pd(0) species and thus slows down the OA of Ph-Br to Pd(0) of about 2 orders of magnitude compared to the diphosphane L3. The electrosynthesis of the complexes resulting from the OA of organic halides to [Pd(0)/L] is easily performed and show the concurrent OA to Pd(0) of the sp(3)C-Cl bond of dichloromethane solvent. The resulting unstable Pd/alkyl complex is characterized by NMR and single crystal X-ray structure. We additionally observed the perfect stereoselectivity of the OA reactions which is induced by the tetraphosphane ligand L1. Altogether, a clearer picture of the general effects of congested polydentate ligands on the OA of organic halides to Pd(0) is given.

Congested ferrocenyl polyphosphanes bearing electron-donating or electron-withdrawing phosphanyl groups: assessment of metallocene conformation from NMR spin couplings and use in palladium-catalyzed chloroarenes activation.

The synthesis of novel substituted cyclopentadienyl salts that incorporate both a congested branched alkyl group (tert-butyl, (triphenyl)methyl, or tri(4-tert-butyl)phenylmethyl) and a phosphanyl group is reported. The introduction of either electron-withdrawing or electron-donating substituents (furyl, i-propyl, cyclohexyl, tert-butyl) on P atoms was generally achieved in high yield. The modular synthesis of ferrocenyl polyphosphanes from an assembly of these cyclopentadienyl salts was investigated, leading to the formation of new triphosphanes (denoted as 9-12) and diphosphanes (denoted as 14-16). The resulting phosphanes are not sensitive to air or moisture, even when electron-rich substituents are present. This set of polyphosphanes displays varied conformational features, which are discussed in the light of their multinuclear NMR characterization in solution and of the X-ray solid state structure of the representative triphosphane 1,2-bis(diphenylphosphanyl)-1'-(diisopropylphosphanyl)-3'-(triphenyl)methyl-4-tert-butyl ferrocene, 11. In particular, the existence of a range of significantly different nonbonded ("through-space", TS) spin-spin coupling constants between heteroannular P atoms, for the triphosphanes of this class, allowed their preferred conformation in solution to be appraised. The study evidences an unanticipated flexibility of the ferrocene platform, despite the presence of very congested tert-butyl and trityl groups. Herein, we show that, contrary to our first belief, the preferred conformation for the backbone of ferrocenyl polyphosphanes can not only depend on the hindrance of the groups decorating the cyclopentadienyl rings but is also a function of the substituents of the phosphanyl groups. The interest of these robust phosphanes as ligands was illustrated in palladium catalysis for the arylation of n-butyl furan with chloroarenes, using direct C-H activation of the heteroaromatic in the presence of low metal/ligand loadings (0.5-1.0 mol %). Thus, 4-chlorobenzonitrile, 4-chloronitrobenzene, 4-chloropropiophenone, and 4-(trifluoromethyl)chlorobenzene were efficiently coupled to n-butyl furan, using Pd(OAc)(2) associated to the new diphosphane ligands 1,1'-bis(diisopropylphosphanyl)-3,3'-di(triphenyl)methyl ferrocene (15) or 1,1'-bis(dicyclohexylphosphanyl)-3,3'-di(triphenyl)methylferrocene (16), which respectively hold the electron-rich -Pi-Pr(2) and -PCy(2) groups.

Direct arylation of heteroaromatic compounds with congested, functionalised aryl bromides at low palladium/triphosphane catalyst loading.

A new ferrocenyl triphosphane ligand associated to palladium was found to be an efficient catalyst for the direct coupling of highly congested, functionalised aryl bromides with a variety of heteroarenes. These coupling reactions can generally be performed by using a low-loading (0.1-0.5 mol%) of the catalyst. The present protocol tolerates important and useful functional groups, which allows for further elaboration into more sophisticated heterocyclic molecules. The straightforward arylation of heteroaromatic compounds with congested ortho-substituted aryl bromides may permit further convergent syntheses of diverse ligands, biologically active molecules and molecular materials in only a few steps.