Pincer thioamide and pincer thioimide palladium complexes catalyze highly efficient Negishi coupling of primary and secondary alkyl zinc reagents at room temperature.

Pincer thioamide Pd(II) complex 2 was prepared, and its reaction with cyclohexylzinc chloride yielded novel pincer thioimide Pd(II) complex 3 besides Pd(0) species. The structures of complexes 2 and 3 were confirmed by X-ray analysis. Both complexes are efficient catalysts for Negishi couplings involving primary and secondary alkyl zinc reagents bearing beta-hydrogen atoms. At a concentration of 0.1-0.5 mol % both catalysts readily promoted reactions at room temperature or even at 0 degrees C. The operational simplicity of these processes, in conjunction with the easy accessibility of both catalysts and substrates, promises synthetic utility of this new methodology. An experiment on a scale of 19.35 g carried out at very low catalyst loading of 2 (turnover number: 6,100,000) highlighted the potential application of the catalytic system. Monoalkyl and dialkyl zinc reagents displayed different reactivities and selectivities in reactions with aryl iodides catalyzed by complexes 2 or 3, and isomerization in reactions involving acyclic secondary alkyl zinc derivatives was suppressed by using appropriate amounts of dialkyl zinc reagents. Based on preliminary kinetic profiles and reaction evidence, three possible pathways are proposed for the reactions involving acyclic secondary alkyl zinc reagents to rationalize the difference between mono-alkyl and dialkyl zinc derivatives.