Recent Applications of Palladium-Catalyzed Coupling Reactions in the Pharmaceutical, Agrochemical, and Fine Chemical Industries

Palladium-catalyzed coupling reactions have become a central tool for the synthesis of biologically active compounds both in academia and industry. Most of these transformations make use of easily available substrates and allow for a shorter and more selective preparation of substituted arenes and heteroarenes compared to non-catalytic pathways. Notably, molecular-defined palladium catalysts offer high chemoselectivity and broad functional group tolerance. Considering these advantages, it is not surprising that several palladium-catalyzed coupling reactions have been implemented in the last decade into the industrial manufacture of pharmaceuticals and fine chemicals. In this review different examples from 2001-2008 are highlighted, which have been performed at least on a kilogram scale in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries.