Aryl isocyanides, reaction with palladium complexes

Substantially more work has been done on reactions of square-planar nickel, palladium, and platinum alkyl and aryl complexes with isocyanides. A communication by Otsuka et al. (108) described the initial work in this area. These workers carried out oxidative addition reactions with Ni(CNBu )4 and with [Pd(CNBu )2] (. In a reaction of the latter compound with methyl iodide the complex, Pd(CNBu )2(CH3)I, stable as a solid but unstable in solution, was obtained. This complex when dissolved in toluene proceeds through an intermediate believed to be dimeric, which then reacts with an additional ligand L (CNBu or PPh3) to give PdL(CNBu )- C(CH3)=NBu I [Eq. (7)]. 

Related reactions of thiolate anions with ort/zo-chloromethyl-phenyl(diphenyl)phosphine have provided a range of ort/ o-alkyl and aryl-thiomethylphenyl(diphenyl)phosphines. " The reactions of 2-amino-alkylphosphines with isocyanates and isothiocyanates have provided routes to new chiral phosphinoalkyl-urea and -thiourea ligands. Similarly, treatment of hydroxy- or amino-functional arylphosphines with isocyanides in the presence of a cyclooctadienepalladium(II) complex results in the formation of bidentate arylphosphino-carbene palladium complexes. New chiral phosphinoarylphosphoramidite ligands, e.g.,... 

Early findings by Suzuki and co-workers [109] showed that the palladium-catalyzed iminocarbonylative cross-coupling reaction between 9-alkyl-9-BBN derivatives, t-butylisocyanide, and arylhalides gives access to alkyl aryl ketones 132 after hydrolysis of the corresponding ketimine intermediates 131. Presumably, the concentration of free isocyanide is kept to a minimum by its coordination with the borane. Formation of an iminoacylpalladium(II) halide 130 by insertion of isocyanide to the newly formed arylpalladium complex followed by a transmetallation step afford the ketimine intermediates 131 (Scheme 8.52). 

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