Search

The development of an air-stable iron(III)-based precatalyst for the Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling reaction of alkyl halides and unactivated aryl boronic esters is reported. Despite benefits to cost and toxicity, the proclivity of iron(II)-based complexes to undergo deactivation via oxidation or hydrolysis is a limiting factor for their widespread use in cross-coupling reactions compared to palladium-based or nickel-based complexes. The new octahedral iron(III) complex demonstrates long-term stability on the benchtop as assessed by a combination of 1 H NMR spectroscopy, Mössbauer spectroscopy, and its sustained catalytic activity after exposure to air. The improved stability of the iron-based catalyst facilitates an improved protocol in which Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling reactions of valuable substrates can be assembled without the use of a glovebox and access a diverse scope of products similar to reactions assembled in the glovebox with iron(II)-based catalysts., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest.

Dilithium amides have been developed as a bespoke and general ligand for iron-catalyzed Kumada-Tamao-Corriu cross-coupling reactions, their design taking inspiration from previous mechanistic and structural studies. They allow for the cross-coupling of alkyl Grignard reagents with sp 2 -hybridized electrophiles as well as aryl Grignard reagents with sp 3 -hybridized electrophiles. This represents a rare example of a single iron-catalyzed system effective across diverse coupling reactions without significant modification of the catalytic protocol, as well as remaining operationally simple.

Fast, base-promoted protodeboronation of polyfluoroaryl and heteroaryl boronic acids complicates their use in Suzuki-Miyaura coupling (SMC) because a base is generally required for catalysis. We report a "cationic" SMC method using a PAd 3 -Pd catalyst that proceeds at rt in the absence of a base or metal mediator. A wide range of sensitive boronic acids, particularly polyfluoroaryl substrates that are poorly compatible with classic SMC conditions, undergo clean coupling. Stoichiometric experiments implicate the intermediacy of organopalladium cations, which supports a long-postulated cationic pathway for transmetalation in SMC.