Catalyst selection facilitates the use of heterocyclic sulfinates as general nucleophilic coupling partners in palladium-catalyzed coupling reactions

Markovic T, Rocke BJ, Blakemore DC, Mascitti V, Willis M

A range of 5- and 6-membered heterocycle-derived sulfinates are shown to be effective nucleophilic coupling partners with aryl chlorides and bromides using Pd(0) catalysis. The use of optimal reaction conditions, specifically incorporating a P(tBu)2Me-derived Pd catalyst, allowed reactions to be performed at moderate temperatures and enabled the inclusion of a variety of sensitive functional groups. Challenging heterocyclic sulfinates, including pyrazine, pyridazine, pyrimidine, pyrazole and imidazole were all shown to perform well.