Mechanism of the Suzuki–Miyaura Cross-Coupling Reaction Mediated by [Pd(NHC)(allyl)Cl] Precatalysts

Abstract

Density functional theory calculations have been used to investigate the activation mechanism for the precatalyst series [Pd]-X-1–4 derived from [Pd(IPr)(R-allyl)X] species by substitutions at the terminal position of the allyl moiety ([Pd] = Pd(IPr); R = H (1), Me (2), gem-Me2 (3), Ph (4), X = Cl, Br). Next, we have investigated the Suzuki–Miyaura cross-coupling reaction for the active catalyst species IPr-Pd(0) using 4-chlorotoluene and phenylboronic acid as substrates and isopropyl alcohol as a solvent. Our theoretical findings predict an upper barrier trend, corresponding to the activation mechanism for the [Pd]-Cl-1–4 series, in good agreement with the experiments. They indeed provide a quantitative explanation of the low yield (12%) displayed by [Pd]-Cl-1 species (ΔG⧧ ≈ 30.0 kcal/mol) and of the high yields (≈90%) observed in the case of [Pd]-Cl-2–4 complexes (ΔG⧧ ≈ 20.0 kcal/mol). Additionally, the studied Suzuki–Miyaura reaction involving the IPr-Pd(0) species is calculated to be thermodynamically...