Palladacycles - An old organometallic family revisited: New, simple, and efficient catalyst precursors for homogeneous catalysis

Nitrogen-, phosphorus-, and sulfur-containing palladacycles, typically containing four- or six-electron donor anionic metallated ligands, are emerging as a new family of organometallic catalyst precursors. These thermally and air-stable complexes are easy to handle and their synthesis is often straightforward. Palladacycles are now being successfully exploited in catalytic reactions ranging from classical hydrogenations to enantioselective aldol-type condensations. The main recent achievements pertaining to their use in homogeneous organometallic catalysis are outlined herein.