Iron-catalysed substrate-directed Suzuki biaryl cross-coupling

Harry M. O'Brien, Mattia Manzotti, Roman D. Abrams, David Elorriaga, Hazel A. Sparkes, Sean A. Davis, Robin B. Bedford*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticle (Academic Journal)peer-review

81 Citations (Scopus)
788 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Although the replacement of ubiquitous palladium catalysts with more sustainable iron-based analogues continues apace, the simple biaryl Suzuki cross-coupling reaction remains stubbornly elusive. It appears that the main issue hampering the reaction is activation of the aryl halide C-X bond. Here we show that a simple N-pyrrole amide and related directing groups on the aryl halide substrates facilitate this process by transient π-coordination to the iron centre. This allows iron-catalysed Suzuki biaryl cross-coupling to proceed, under mild conditions, with alkyllithium-activated aryl pinacol boronic esters.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)429-437
Number of pages9
JournalNature Catalysis
Volume1
Issue number6
Early online date12 Jun 2018
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jun 2018

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