Coupling of Reformatsky Reagents with Aryl Chlorides Enabled by Ylide-Functionalized Phosphine Ligands

The coupling of aryl chlorides with Reformatsky reagents is a desirable strategy for the construction of α-aryl esters but has so far been substantially limited in the substrate scope due to many challenges posed by various possible side reactions. This limitation has now been overcome by the tailoring of ylide-functionalized phosphines to fit the requirements of Negishi couplings. Record-setting activities were achieved in palladium-catalyzed arylations of organozinc reagents with aryl electrophiles using a cyclohexyl-YPhos ligand bearing an ortho-tolyl-substituent in the backbone. This highly electron-rich, bulky ligand enables the use of aryl chlorides in room temperature couplings of Reformatsky reagents. The reaction scope covers diversely functionalized arylacetic and arylpropionic acid derivatives. Aryl bromides and chlorides can be converted selectively over triflate electrophiles, which permits consecutive coupling strategies.