Treatment of chloro(phenyl)germanes with allylmagnesium bromide yielded allyl(phenyl)germanes. Coupling of the allyl-(phenyl)germanes with aryl halides in 1,4-dioxane in the presence of aqueous NaOH and Pd catalyst resulted in Heck-type transfer of the allyl group providing the corresponding allylated aryls. On the other hand, reaction of allyl(phenyl)germanes with SbF 5 intercalated in graphite in toluene and subsequent treatment of the resulting germanyl fluorides with TBAF generates reactive hypervalent fluorogermanates that undergo Stille-like Pd-catalyzed cross-coupling with aryl halides in wet toluene to provide biaryls.The application of organogermanes to Pd-catalyzed couplings has thus far received much less attention 1 than the couplings involving organostannanes and organosilanes.2 This is due to the lower reactivity of tetracoordinated organogermanium species, the less developed syntheses of vinyl/aryl germanyl derivatives, and the higher cost of germanium relative to silicon. Based on the available knowledge on the susceptibility of organogermanes toward coupling, it appears that the coupling is promoted either by: (i) intramolecular chelation of a pendant Lewis basic heteroatom which renders the Ge center "permanently" pentavalent 47 or (ii) the presence of at least one heteroatom bound to the Ge center that renders the Ge center more susceptible to coordination by an external Lewis basic ligand (e.g., fluoride, hydroxide, etc.), thereby also rendering the Ge center pentavalent. 817 Although the effects of fluoride/base activation and Pdcatalyst/ligand combination on the coupling of organogermanes are still ambiguous, all but one 4 successful example of germane couplings with aryl/alkenyl halides involved activation with either base or fluoride.Recently we reported that trichloro(phenyl)-, dichloro(diphenyl)-, and chloro(triphenyl)germanes undergo Pd-catalyzed crosscouplings with aryl bromides and iodides in the presence of TBAF in toluene with addition of a measured amount of water. One chloride ligand on the Ge center is sufficient to allow efficient activation by fluoride and subsequent transfer of one, two or three phenyl groups from the organogermane precursors. 16,17 We showed that arylchlorogermanes can render a coupling efficiency comparable to that of the more established stannane and silane counterparts and that their coupling efficiency reflected their ability to generate reactive hypervalent intermediates upon fluoride activation.
17Hiyama and co-workers utilized tri-, di-, and monoallyl(aryl)-silanes in Pd-coupling with aryl halides to access biaryls.18 They suggested that allylsilanes spontaneously cleave upon treatment with TBAF and an appropriate amount of water to provide an active silicate species that promotes transmetalation. Although the chemistry of allylgermanes is well established, 19,20 the application of allyl organogermanes as substrates for the Pd-catalyzed crosscoupling with aryl halides has not been investigated. Herein, we report chemoselective application of tri-, di...