Transition metal complexes with diazonium compounds

With regard to the mechanism of these Pd°-catalyzed reactions, little is known in addition to what is shown in Scheme 10-62. In our opinion, the much higher yields with diazonium tetrafluoroborates compared with the chlorides and bromides, and the low yields and diazo tar formation in the one-pot method using arylamines and tert-butyl nitrites (Kikukawa et al., 1981 a) indicate a heterolytic mechanism for reactions under optimal conditions. The arylpalladium compound is probably a tetra-fluoroborate salt of the cation Ar-Pd+, which dissociates into Ar+ +Pd° before or after addition to the alkene. An aryldiazenido complex of Pd(PPh3)3 (10.25) was obtained together with its dediazoniation product, the corresponding arylpalladium complex 10.26, in the reaction of Scheme 10-64 by Yamashita et al. (1980). Aryldiazenido complexes with compounds of transition metals other than Pd are discussed in the context of metal complexes with diazo compounds (Zollinger, 1995, Sec. 10.1). 

In Table 10 appear complexes of transition metals with diazonium compounds. TABLE 10. Complexes of diazonium compounds with various metals... 

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