Dephenylation of triphenylbismuth(v) and antimony(v) derivatives in a methyl acrylate—methanol system in the presence of copper and palladium salts

Abstract

The influence of the central metal atom and acid residue in a molecule of organometallic compound Ph3MX2 (M = Bi, Sb; X = Cl, Br, OAc, O2CEt) on the direction and yield of dephenylation products in a methyl acrylate— methanol system in the presence of Cu(OAc)2 and Na2PdCl2(OAc)2 was studied at 50 °C in acetonitrile. The main product of dephenylation of the antimony compounds is methyl cinnamate (yield 0.31–1.59 moles per mole of the starting Ph3SbX2), while anisole (0.55–0.97 mol) and halobenzene (0.67–1.04 mol) are those for compounds Ph3Bi(O2CR)2 and Ph3BiHal2, respectively.