N-Heterocyclic carbene-palladacyclic complexes: synthesis, characterization and their applications in the C-N coupling and α-arylation of ketones using aryl chlorides

N-Heterocyclic carbene-palladacyclic complexes 3 were successfully achieved in a one-pot procedure under mild conditions. The structure of 3a was unambiguously confirmed by X-ray single crystal diffraction and it was an active catalyst in the Buchwald-Hartwig amination and alpha-arylation of ketones even at very low catalyst loadings (0.01 mol%). (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.