Development of new palladium catalysts for the alkoxycarbonylation of aryl chlorides

Abstract The alkoxycarbonylation of different aryl chlorides was studied. Studies of the butoxycarbonylation of 4-chlorobenzotrifluoride and chlorobenzene using chelating ferrocenylphosphines reveal the advantages of these ligands compared to the well-known tricyclohexylphosphine (PCy 3 ). (1-{2-(Dicyclohexylphosphino)ferrocenyl}ethyldicyclohexylphosphine ( 4 ) was shown to give the most active palladium catalyst system. The usefulness of this catalyst is demonstrated in the alkoxycarbonylation of various aryl chlorides. Optimized carbonylation conditions were realized by a statistical design of three critical reaction parameters.