Imino-N-Heterocyclic Carbene Palladium(II) Complex-Catalyzed Direct Arylation of Electron-Deficient Fluoroarenes with “On and Off” Chelating Effect Assistance

An imino-N-heterocyclic carbene palladium­(II) complex with a bulky substituted group on the imino nitrogen was used to catalyze the direct arylation of electron-deficient fluoroarenes with aryl halides. A series of electron-poor substrates and aryl bromides could be coupled in good to excellent yields with satisfactory position selectivity (20 examples, up to 93%). These arylations could proceed at a relatively low temperature (80 °C, 20 examples, up to 95%) with mono-N-protected amino acid assistance. Some of them even gained higher yields than those at high temperature (110 °C). Otherwise, some aryl iodides can forge cross-coupling products in yields of nearly 30% under the optimized conditions. The rate profiles for arylation of electron-poor arenes were measured in the presence of the imino-N-heterocyclic carbene palladium­(II) complex or Pd­(OAc)2 as the catalyst, which showed that the former could keep catalytic activity for a longer time. Computational studies indicated that the imino nitrogen in the imino-N-heterocyclic carbene ligand can detach from and attach to the central metal in the catalytic cycle. Thus, the coordination site could be protected, and this effect may be responsible for decreasing the rate of palladium black formation.