Efficient Carbonylation of Aryl and Heteroaryl Bromides using a Palladium/Diadamantylbutylphosphine Catalyst

A general palladium-catalyzed alkoxycarbonylation of aryl and heteroaryl bromides has been developed in the presence of bulky monodentate phosphines. Studies of the butoxycarbonylation of three model substrates revealed the advantages of di-1-adamantyl-n-butylphosphine compared to other ligands. In the presence of this catalyst system various bromoarenes provided the corresponding benzoic acid derivatives (ester, amides, acids) in excellent yield at low catalyst loadings (0.5 mol % Pd or below).