The strong electron-donation and the steric bulk of trialkylphosphines renders them as very useful ligands for palladium-catalyzed cross coupling reactions. This critical review reports on the synthesis of two families of trialkylphosphines (diadamantylalkylphosphines, fluorenyldialkylphosphines) and the properties of the respective palladium complexes in various cross coupling reactions, which evolved as alternatives to the classical Pd/PtBu(3) system. In contrast to the latter phosphine the new classes of ligands are characterized by a highly flexible ligand design, which allows the fine tuning of catalytic properties to the specific needs of certain substrates and also enables the attachment of additional tags to impart certain useful properties onto the respective phosphines (179 references).

Sulfonated, water-soluble imidazolium and imidazolinium salts were synthesized and the respective Pd-complexes with N,N'-bis(2,6-dialkyl-4-SO(3)(-)-phenyl)imidazol-2-ylidene and N,N'-bis(2,6-dialkyl-4-SO(3)(-)-phenyl)-4,5-dihydroimidazol-2-ylidene ligands were applied in aqueous Suzuki coupling reactions of aryl chlorides.

The lithiation/alkylation of fluorene leads to various 9-alkyl-fluorenes (alkyl=Me, Et, iPr, -Pr, -C18H25) in>95% yields, for which lithiation and reaction with R2PCl (R=Cy, iPr, tBu) generates 9-alkyl, 9-PR2-fluorenes which constitute electron-rich and bulky phosphine ligands. The in-situ-formed palladium-phosphine complexes ([Na2PdCl4], phosphonium salt, base, substrates) were tested in the Sonogashira, Suzuki, and Buchwald-Hartwig reactions of aryl chlorides and aryl bromides in organic solvents. The Sonogashira coupling of aryl chlorides at 100-120 degrees C leads to>90% yields with 1 mol% of Pd catalyst. The Suzuki coupling of aryl chlorides typically requires 0.05 mol% of Pd catalyst at 100 degrees C in dioxane for quantitative product formation. To carry out "green" cross-coupling reactions in water, 9-ethylfluorenyldicyclohexylphosphine was reacted in sulphuric acid to generate the respective 2-sulfonated phosphonium salt. The Suzuki coupling of activated aryl chlorides by using this water-soluble catalyst requires only 0.01 mol% of Pd catalyst, while a wide range of aryl chlorides can be quantitatively converted into the respective coupling products by using 0.1-0.5 mol% of catalyst in pure water at 100 degrees C. Difficult substrate combinations, such as naphthylboronic acid or 3-pyridylboronic acid and aryl chlorides are coupled at 100 degrees C by using 0.1-0.5 mol% of catalyst in pure water to obtain the respective N-heterocycles in quantitative yields. The copper-free aqueous Sonogashira coupling of aryl bromides generates the respective tolane derivatives in>95% yield.

A dicyclohexyl(2-sulfo-9-(3-(4-sulfophenyl)propyl)-9H-fluoren-9-yl)phosphonium salt was synthesized in 64% overall yield in three steps from simple commercially available starting materials. The highly water-soluble catalyst obtained from the corresponding phosphine and [Na(2)PdCl(4)] enabled the Suzuki coupling of a broad variety of N- and S-heterocyclic substrates. Chloropyridines (-quinolines) and aryl chlorides were coupled with aryl-, pyridine- or indoleboronic acids in quantitative yields in water/n-butanol solvent mixtures in the presence of 0.005-0.05 mol % of Pd catalyst at 100 degrees C, chloropurines were quantitatively Suzuki coupled in the presence of 0.5 mol % of catalyst, and S-heterocyclic aryl chlorides and aryl- or 3-pyridylboronic acids required 0.01-0.05 mol % Pd catalyst for full conversion. The key to the high activity of the Pd-phosphine catalyst is the rational design of the reaction parameters (i.e., the presence of water in the reaction mixture, good solubility of reactants and catalyst in n-butanol/water (3:1), and the electron-rich and sterically demanding nature of the phosphine ligand).