Imine Palladacycles: Synthesis, Structural Analysis and Application in Suzuki-Miyaura Cross Coupling in Semi-Aqueous Media.

Treatment of the imines a-c with palladium(II) acetate in acetic acid yielded the μ-acetate dinuclear complexes 1a-c , which readily reacted with sodium chloride or bromide to provide μ-halide analogues. The reaction of the latter with nitrogen, phosphorus and oxygen donor nucleophiles yielded new imine palladacycles following the cleavage of the Pd 2 X 2 unit. The complexes were fully characterized by microanalysis, 1 H, 13 C and 31 P NMR spectroscopies, as appropriate. The compounds were applied as catalysts in the Suzuki-Miyaura coupling reaction in aqueous and semi-aqueous media.