Pd/P(t-Bu)(3): a mild and general catalyst for Stille reactions of aryl chlorides and aryl bromides.

Pd/P(t-Bu)(3) serves as an unusually reactive catalyst for Stille reactions of aryl chlorides and bromides, providing solutions to a number of long-standing challenges. An unprecedented array of aryl chlorides can be cross-coupled with a range of organotin reagents, including SnBu(4). Very hindered biaryls (e.g., tetra-ortho-substituted) can be synthesized, and aryl chlorides can be coupled in the presence of aryl triflates. The method is user-friendly, since a commercially available complex, Pd(P(t-Bu)(3))(2), is effective. Pd/P(t-Bu)(3) also functions as an active catalyst for Stille reactions of aryl bromides, furnishing the first general method for room-temperature cross-couplings.