Sulfur-Ligand/Pd-Catalyzed Cross-Coupling Reactions of Aryl Halides with Arylboronic Acids Under Aerobic Conditions

Macrocyclic Sulfur Ligand Stabilized Trans-Palladium Dichloride Complex: Syntheses, Structure, Chlorine Rotation, and Application in α-Olefination of Nitriles by Primary Alcohols

Herein, we have reported the synthesis of a macrocyclic organosulfur ligand (L1) having a seventeen-membered macrocyclic ring. Subsequently, the corresponding trans-palladium complex (C1) of bulky macrocyclic organosulfur ligand (L1) was synthesized by reacting it with PdCl2 (CH3 CN)2 salt. The newly synthesized ligand and complex were characterized using various analytical and spectroscopic techniques. The complex showed a square planar geometry with trans orientation of two ligands around the palladium center. The complex possesses intramolecular SCH…Cl interactions of 2.648 Å between the macrocyclic ligand and palladium dichloride. The potential energy surface (PES) for the rotational process of C1 suggested a barrier of ~23.81 kcal/mol for chlorine rotation. Furthermore, the bulky macrocyclic organosulfur ligand stabilized palladium complex (C1) was used as a catalyst (2.5 mol %) for α-olefination of nitriles by primary alcohols. The α,β-unsaturated nitrile compounds were found to be the major product of the reaction (57-78 % yield) with broad substrate scope and large functional group tolerance. Notably, the saturated nitrile product was not observed during the reaction. The mechanistic studies suggested the formation of H2 and H2 O as only by-products of the reaction, thereby making the protocol greener and sustainable.

N-Heterocyclic Carbene Adducts of Main Group Elements and Their Use as Ligands in Transition Metal Chemistry

N-Heterocyclic carbenes (NHC) are nowadays ubiquitous and indispensable in many research fields, and it is not possible to imagine modern transition metal and main group element chemistry without the plethora of available NHCs with tailor-made electronic and steric properties. While their suitability to act as strong ligands toward transition metals has led to numerous applications of NHC complexes in homogeneous catalysis, their strong σ-donating and adaptable π-accepting abilities have also contributed to an impressive vitalization of main group chemistry with the isolation and characterization of NHC adducts of almost any element. Formally, NHC coordination to Lewis acids affords a transfer of nucleophilicity from the carbene carbon atom to the attached exocyclic moiety, and low-valent and low-coordinate adducts of the p-block elements with available lone pairs and/or polarized carbon-element π-bonds are able to act themselves as Lewis basic donor ligands toward transition metals. Accordingly, the availability of a large number of novel NHC adducts has not only produced new varieties of already existing ligand classes but has also allowed establishment of numerous complexes with unusual and often unprecedented element-metal bonds. This review aims at summarizing this development comprehensively and covers the usage of N-heterocyclic carbene adducts of the p-block elements as ligands in transition metal chemistry.

A trinuclear palladium(II) complex containing N,S-coordinating 2-(benzylsulfanyl)anilinide and 1,3-benzothiazole-2-thiolate ligands with a central square-planar PdN4 motif

The reaction of dichlorido(cod)palladium(II) (cod = 1,5-cyclooctadiene) with 2-(benzylsulfanyl)aniline followed by heating in N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) produces the linear trinuclear Pd3 complex bis(μ2-1,3-benzothiazole-2-thiolato)bis[μ2-2-(benzylsulfanyl)anilinido]dichloridotripalladium(II) N,N-dimethylformamide disolvate, [Pd3(C7H4NS2)2(C13H12NS)2Cl2]·2C3H7NO. The molecule has -1 symmetry and a Pd...Pd separation of 3.2012 (4) Å. The outer Pd(II) atoms have a square-planar geometry formed by an N,S-chelating 2-(benzylsulfanyl)anilinide ligand, a chloride ligand and the thiolate S atom of a bridging 1,3-benzothiazole-2-thiolate ligand, while the central Pd(II) core shows an all N-coordinated square-planar geometry. The geometry is perfectly planar within the PdN4 core and the N-Pd-N bond angles differ significantly [84.72 (15)° for the N atoms of ligands coordinated to the same outer Pd atom and 95.28 (15)° for the N atoms of ligands coordinated to different outer Pd atoms]. This trinuclear Pd3 complex is the first example of one in which 1,3-benzothiazole-2-thiolate ligands are only N-coordinated to one Pd centre. The 1,3-benzothiazole-2-thiolate ligands were formed in situ from 2-(benzylsulfanyl)aniline.