Suzuki–Miyaura
cross-coupling reactions of aryl/vinyl sulfonates/halides
with various boron species were performed using an easily available
trans
-dichlorobis(XPhos)palladium(II) precatalyst. Under
microwave assistance, more than 30 coupling products were obtained
with yields ranging from 23 to 99%, including the synthesis of two
bioactive compounds, dubamine and tamoxifen. A mechanistic investigation
of the Suzuki–Miyaura reaction was conducted notably by nuclear
magnetic resonance (NMR) and high-resolution mass spectroscopy, revealing
the nature of the active Pd
0
species and of the reducing
entity.