Aryl alkynylation versus alkyne homocoupling: unprecedented selectivity switch in Cu, phosphine and solvent-free heterogeneous Pd-catalysed couplings

Sonogashira reaction and oxidative dimerisation of terminal alkynes are among the most relevant and attractive C–C bond forming transformations in the metallo-catalysed cross-coupling scenario. Often, the homocoupling reactions of substituted acetylenic derivatives are concomitant to the Sonogashira pathway and time-consuming optimization procedures are required in order to reach satisfactory levels of selectivity. In this paper, the potential of a class of Pd-complexes loaded to mesoporous silica gel in promoting the Sonogashira reaction between aryl acetylenes and iodoarenes is underlined. This family of heterogeneous organo-palladium systems allows the desired cross-coupled compounds to be isolated in excellent yield under very mild conditions. In fact, the absence of organic solvents, copper(I) co-catalyst and phosphane ligands, (which are easily oxidisable and whose preparation has a heavy environmental impact), in conjunction with the low catalyst loading ([Pd] 0.1–1 mol%) and its recoverability, stresses the environmental benefits of the protocol. The Sonogashira/homocoupling selectivity proved to be function of the haloarene employed. As a matter of fact, while iodoarenes bearing EWG (electron withdrawing groups) on the phenyl ring underwent smoothly the Sonogashira pathway, electron-rich iodobenzenes showed opposite behaviour by mainly furnishing the homocoupling product. The use of bromoarenes provided solely the homocoupling product in excellent yield without themselves being consumed. This is despite that fact that the catalysts used activate bromoarenes equally as well as iodoarenes in both Heck and Suzuki systems. Kinetic investigations revealed a highly temperature-dependent profile, which indicates strongly that the reaction takes place at the surface. Finally, the full heterogeneous character of the catalytically active species as well as the reusability of the immobilised Pd-complex were confirmed by hot-filtration test and by multiple reuses of the supported catalyst in subsequent Sonogashira cross-couplings