Dialkylphosphinoimidazoles as new ligands for palladium-catalyzed coupling reactions of aryl chlorides

N-Aryl-2-(dialkylphosphino)imidazoles and -benzimidazoles are conveniently prepared in one step from the corresponding heterocycles by selective deprotonation and quenching with chlorophosphines. The novel ligands are easily tunable and show good to excellent performance in palladium-catalyzed Suzuki reactions and Buchwald-Hartwig aminations of aryl and heteroaryl chlorides.