Structure–activity comparison in palladium–N–heterocyclic carbene (NHC) catalyzed arene CH activation- functionalization

• A monodentate mono-NHC palladium(II) complex was developed as efficient arene CH activation-functionalization catalyst.
• The monodentate mono-NHC catalyst was more efficient than a similar bidentate bis-NHC palladium(II) complex.
• Kinetics and other mechanistic analyses provided the plausible reason for the observed higher activity of the catalyst.

A simple and efficient CH activation catalyst was identified through a model structure-activity screening applied to a noncooperative, nonsymmetric bimetallic palladium(II)-N-heterocyclic carbene complex. Mechanistic studies based on kinetics and DOSY NMR spectroscopy provided the origin of the higher efficiency of the identified catalyst.

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