Construction of Bulky Ligand Libraries by Ru(II)-Catalyzed P(III)-Assisted ortho-C–H Secondary Alkylation

Modification of commercially available biaryl monophosphine ligands via ruthenium(II)-catalyzed P(III)-directed-catalyzed ortho C–H secondary alkylation is described. The use of highly ring-strained norbornene as a secondary alkylating reagent is the key to this transformation. A series of highly bulky ligands with a norbornyl group were obtained in excellent yields. The modified ligands with secondary alkyl group outperformed common substituted phosphines in the Suzuki–Miyaura cross-coupling reaction at a ppm mole level of Pd catalyst.