Highly efficient α-arylation of aryl ketones with aryl chlorides by using bulky imidazolylidene-ligated oxazoline palladacycles

alpha-Aryl derivatives of carbonyl compounds are important building blocks. Herein, we presented an efficient catalytic system for the alpha-arylation of aryl ketones with inactive aryl chlorides by firstly using N,N '-bis(2,6-diisopropylphenyl)-imidazol-2-ylidene (IPr)-ligated chiral oxazoline palladacycles, and tolerated a wide range of substrates at low catalyst loadings, leading to the desired products in good to excellent yields.

Automated summary

In this study, an efficient catalytic system based on IPr-ligated chiral oxazoline palladacycles was developed for the alpha-arylation of aryl ketones with inactive aryl chlorides. The system tolerated a wide range of substrates at low catalyst loadings and resulted in good to excellent yields of the desired products.