Regioselectivity in the palladium-catalyzed addition of carbon nucleophiles to carbocyclic derivatives.

The regioselectivity of Pd-catalyzed malonate additions and arylations to cycloalkenyl esters can be predicted by completing a stereochemical analysis of the Pd-pi-allyl complex. The Pd-catalyzed malonate additions which have the greatest degree of regioselectivity are in which substituents have a steric influence in blocking the incoming nucleophile. Cyclopentenyl substrates displayed lower regioselectivity than the cyclohexyl counterparts presumably due to increased planarity of the system. Arylations using tin and hypervalent silicon reagents were compared.