Cross-Coupling of C(sp3)-H Bonds with Organometallic Reagents via Pd(II)/Pd(0) Catalysis

Palladium-catalyzed C-H activation/C-C bond-forming reactions have emerged as a promising class of synthetic tools in organic chemistry. Among the many different means of forging C-C bonds using Pd-mediated C-H activation, a new horizon in this field is Pd(II)-catalyzed cross-coupling of C-H bonds with organometallic reagents via a Pd(II)/Pd(0) catalytic cycle. While this type of reaction has proven to be effective for the selective functionalization of aryl C(sp(2))-H bonds, the focus of this review is on Pd(II)-catalyzed C(sp(3))-H activation/C-C cross-coupling, a topic of particular importance because reactions of this type enable fundamentally new methods for bond construction. Since our laboratory's initial report on cross-coupling of C-H bonds in 2006, this area has expanded rapidly, and the unique ability of Pd(II) catalysts to cleave and functionalize alkyl C(sp(3))-H bonds has been exploited to develop protocols for forming an array of C(sp(3))-C(sp(2)) and C(sp(3))-C(sp(3)) bonds. Furthermore, enantioselective C(sp(3))-H activation/C-C cross-coupling has been achieved through the use of chiral amino acid-derived ligands, offering a novel technique for producing enantioenriched molecules. Although this nascent field remains at an early stage of development, further investigations hold the potential to revolutionalize the way in which chiral molecules are synthesized in industrial and academic laboratories.