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Updated: Apr 19, 2026

Palladium N-Heterocyclic Carbene Complexes: Synthesis from Benzimidazolium Salts and Catalytic Activity in Carbon-carbon Bond-forming Reactions
Published on: July 30, 2017
Development of a palladium-catalyzed α-arylation of cyclopropyl nitriles
Jamie M McCabe Dunn1, Jeffrey T Kuethe, Robert K Orr
1Department of Process Chemistry, Merck Research Laboratories , 2000 Galloping Hill Road, Kenilworth, New Jersey 07033, United States.
Abstract:
1,1-Disubstituted aryl cyclopropyl nitriles are useful moieties in biologically active compounds and provide access to a range of cyclopropyl derivatives. Herein, we describe the development of a palladium-catalyzed α-arylation of cyclopropyl, cyclobutyl, and cyclopentyl nitriles that affords these functional groups in one step from a variety of aryl bromides in good to excellent yields. Furthermore, we demonstrate the transformation of aryl cyclopropyl nitriles into aryl trifluoromethyl cyclopropanes.
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