| While palladium eta3-benzyl complexes have been reported as intermediates in reactions, they are not as well known or well studied as palladium eta3-ally1 complexes. A study of the palladium-catalyzed amination of benzyl carbonates via eta3-benzyl complexes has been carried out, utilizing biphosphine and N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) ligands with microwave heating. These new conditions significantly enhance the practicality of this reaction. A carbene catalyzed decarbonylation was noted as a significant side-reaction and conditions have been found to reduce this, with size of the NHC ligand being found to be a significant factor in determining product distributions. A variety of methods to generate the active catalyst have been investigated and by altering the NHC by producing a silver complex of itself proved to be the optimum process. Reaction times have varied by the different methods, but a trend showing a decrease in both reaction time and temperature occurs when administering the silver complexes. |
