Exploring the energetics of Suzuki cross-coupling reaction: A computational study of palladium and nickel catalysts

Abstract

The present study employed density-functional theory (DFT) calculations to investigate the Suzuki-Miyaura Cross-Coupling reaction using single atom catalysis (SAC) via palladium or nickel. The reaction barriers for chloride bond cleavage in phenyl chloride were found to be 34.68 kJ/mol and 24.24 kJ/mol for palladium and nickel catalysts, respectively. During the transmetalation process, the energy barrier for boronic acid release from phenyl trihydroxyboronate using SAC via palladium and SAC via nickel was calculated to be 74.17 kJ/mol and 65.22 kJ/mol, respectively. The results indicated that in the oxidative addition and transmetalation reactions, the SAC via nickel outperforms the SAC via palladium, while the SAC via palladium excels in the reductive elimination reaction. These findings suggest the effectiveness of a SAC via nickel as a substitute for SAC via palladium in the synthesis of biphenyls in the Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling reaction.