Metal phosphine aldehyde complexes and their application in Cu-free Sonogashira and Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling reactions

Transition metal coordination chemistry and catalysis are rife with phosphine ligands. One of the rather less studied members of the phosphine ligand family are phosphine aldehydes. We have synthesised 3-(diphenylphosphino)propanal (PCHO) with a slight modification of the known procedure and studied its complexation behaviour with palladium(ii) and platinum(ii). The catalytic activity of the palladium(ii) phosphine aldehyde complexes was investigated in Cu-free Sonogashira and Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling reactions. Furthermore, the homogeneous nature of the catalytically active species was confirmed.

Automated summary

Transition metal coordination chemistry and catalysis often employ phosphine ligands, among which phosphine aldehydes are relatively understudied. In this study, we synthesized 3-(diphenylphosphino)propanal (PCHO) and investigated its complexation behavior with Pd(II) and Pt(II). The catalytic activity of the Pd(II) phosphine aldehyde complexes was examined in Cu-free Sonogashira and Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling reactions, confirming the homogeneous nature of the catalytically active species.