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Updated: Oct 13, 2025

Palladium N-Heterocyclic Carbene Complexes: Synthesis from Benzimidazolium Salts and Catalytic Activity in Carbon-carbon Bond-forming Reactions
Published on: July 30, 2017
Direct Arylation of Simple Arenes with Aryl Bromides by Synergistic Silver and Palladium Catalysis
Adrian Tlahuext-Aca1, Sarah Yunmi Lee1, Shu Sakamoto1
1Department of Chemistry, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720, United States.
Abstract:
The direct, catalytic arylation of simple arenes in small excess with aryl bromides is disclosed. The developed method does not require the assistance of directing groups and relies on a synergistic catalytic cycle in which phosphine-ligated silver complexes cleave the aryl C-H bond, while palladium catalysts enable the formation of the biaryl products. Mechanistic experiments, including kinetic isotope effects, competition experiments, and hydrogen-deuterium exchange, support a catalytic cycle in which cleavage of the C-H bond by silver is the rate-determining step.
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