A Highly Active Catalyst System for Suzuki–Miyaura Coupling of Aryl Chlorides

Abstract

A series of new Pd(II) complexes with simple structures were designed and synthesized for Suzuki–Miyaura coupling reactions of aryl chlorides. The new Pd(II) complexes contain bidentate amine ligands, and their structures were characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. They are highly efficient for Suzuki–Miyaura coupling reactions of aryl chlorides with low catalyst loadings (0.01 mol %) in aqueous media at room temperature. Two possible reaction pathways involving a PdII/0/II and a PdII/IV/II catalytic cycle are proposed, and the mechanism was further investigated using density functional theory (DFT) calculations.