Suzuki reaction of aryl chlorides using saturated N-heterocarbene ligands

From readily available starting materials, six 1,3-dialkyl-imidazolinium bromides (2a-f) have been prepared and characterized by conventional spectroscopic methods and elemental analyses. The incorporation of saturated N-heterocyclic carbenes into palladium precatalysts gives high catalyst activity in the Suzuki coupling of deactivated aryl chloride substrates in aqueous media. The complexes were generated in the presence of Pd(OAc) 2 by in situ deprotonation of 2a-f. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc