Recent advances in sustainable N-heterocyclic carbene-Pd(II)-pyridine (PEPPSI) catalysts: A review

Various catalysts in homogeneous or heterogeneous catalysis deploy unconventional reaction pathways by lowering the activation energy (AE) barrier, controlling the selectivity, and creating environmental impact, thereby bringing about economic viability. Hence, the study of these methodologies is of immense interest. To develop a new chemistry, there is much scope for the invention of brilliant candidates that could effectively catalyze diverse reaction methodologies. The palladium-catalyzed reactions motivate interesting applications on various organic transformations under mild reaction conditions. Although phosphorous designed ligands or catalysts have been used, despite their expensiveness, sensitivity and other properties, there is the necessity of developing even better cross-coupling ligands or catalysts such as N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC)-based palladium complexes. These palladium-NHCs (Pd-NHC) are novel and universal nucleophilic entities that have come into light as the most successful class of catalysts in organometallic chemistry. In the same class, a specific category of palladium-NHCs such as palladium-pyridine enhanced pre-catalyst preparation by the stabilization initiation (palladium-PEPPSI) complexes, are emerging as versatile alternatives to phosphine containing palladium complexes for various cross-coupling reactions due to their excellent catalytic activity. Further to mention that NHCs are recently extensively used as ancillary ligands in organometallic chemistry, which includes industrial-related catalytic transformations due to strong σ-donors to metal centres. Apart from this, many NHC-metal complexes are the fascinating consideration in material science as probable metallo-pharmaceuticals. The current review offers a brief exploration of palladium-PEPPSI complexes over the past few years. Further, the synthesis of a variety of these types of catalysts, their applications in Suzuki-Miyaura, Buchwald-Hartwig, Sonogashira, Negishi couplings direct C2-arylation, O-C(O) cleavage, α-arylation/alkylation of carbonyl compounds and trans-amidation reactions via cross-coupling methodologies, which are covered. Additionally, reported recent developments on reusable heterogeneous PdPEPPSI complexes and their catalytic applications are being covered. Finally, the chiral Pd complexes and their asymmetric transformations are discussed.

Development of copper-catalyzed deaminative esterification using high-throughput experimentation

Repurposing of amine and carboxylic acid building blocks provides an enormous opportunity to expand the accessible chemical space, because amine and acid feedstocks are typically low cost and available in high diversity. Herein, we report a copper-catalyzed deaminative esterification based on C-N activation of aryl amines via diazonium salt formation. The reaction was specifically designed to complement the popular amide coupling reaction. A chemoinformatic analysis of commercial building blocks demonstrates that by utilizing aryl amines, our method nearly doubles the available esterification chemical space compared to classic Fischer esterification with phenols. High-throughput experimentation in microliter reaction droplets was used to develop the reaction, along with classic scope studies, both of which demonstrated robust performance against hundreds of substrate pairs. Furthermore, we have demonstrated that this new esterification is suitable for late-stage diversification and for building-block repurposing to expand chemical space.

Recent advances in NHC–palladium catalysis for alkyne chemistry: versatile synthesis and applications

This review summarizes the recent developments in NHC–palladium catalysis for alkyne chemistry: versatile synthesis and applications.

Pd-Catalyzed decarboxylative alkynylation of alkynyl carboxylic acids with arylsulfonyl hydrazides via a desulfinative process

The decarboxylative alkynylation of alkynyl carboxylic acids and arylsulfonyl hydrazides by desulfinative coupling could provide aryl alkynes in satisfactory yields by either judiciously selecting palladium catalysts or modulating phosphine ligands under mild conditions.

Selective assembly of N1- and N2-alkylated 1,2,3-triazoles via copper-catalyzed decarboxylative cycloaddition of alkynyl carboxylic acids with ethers and azidotrimethylsilane

An efficient and regiocontrolled method for the synthesis of various N1- and N2 alkylated 1,2,3-triazoles via copper-catalyzed decarboxylative cycloaddition of alkynyl carboxylic acids with ethers and azidotrimethylsilane.

One-Pot Tandem Hiyama Alkynylation/Cyclizations by Palladium(II) Acyclic Diaminocarbene (ADC) Complexes Yielding Biologically Relevant Benzofuran Scaffolds

A series of palladium acyclic diaminocarbene (ADC) complexes of the type cis-[(R¹NH)(R²)methylidene]PdCl₂(CNR¹) [R¹ = 2,4,6-(CH₃)₃C₆H₂: R² = NC₅H₁₀ (2); NC₄H₈ (3); NC₄H₈O (4)] were used not only to perform the C_sp² -C_sp Hiyama coupling between aryl iodide and triethoxysilylalkynes but also to subsequently carry out the one-pot tandem Hiyama alkynylation/cyclization reaction between 2-iodophenol and triethoxysilylalkynes, giving a convenient time-efficient access to the biologically relevant benzofuran compounds. The palladium ADC complexes (2-4) were conveniently synthesized by the nucleophilic addition of secondary amines, namely, piperidine, pyrrolidine, and morpholine on the cis-{(2,4,6-(CH₃)₃C₆H₂)NC}₂PdCl₂ in moderate yields (ca. 61-66%).

Copper-Catalyzed Decarboxylative Disulfonylation of Alkynyl Carboxylic Acids with Sulfinic Acids

A copper-catalyzed decarboxylative disulfonylation of alkynyl carboxylic acids with sulfinic acids in aqueous solution has been developed. The reaction provides a straightforward and practical access to (E)-1,2-disulfonylethenes, which are important building blocks in synthetic organic chemistry, and exhibits a good functional group tolerance and excellent stereoselectivity. A possible mechanism for the transformation is proposed.