Recent Trends in the Catalysis of Cross Coupling and Carbonylation Reactions Using Pd(II)-N-Heterocyclic Carbene-Stabilized Complexes

Carbonylation processes and couplings catalyzed by transition metals have advanced significantly in the production of practical materials and in commercial applications. Choosing the right ligand is very important in these reactions. Even though this field has developed a lot in recent years, most commonly used ligands are phosphine-based compounds that have many problems such as difficult synthesis, harmful effects, high cost, and the poor stability under air or moisture conditions. On the other hand, there are many numerous benefits with N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) ligands synthesis. These include lower cost, strong sigma doner, and easy to synthesize. Also, NHCs can be created from many N-heterocyclic rings, their stability toward air and moisture and lack of toxicity make them a useful ligand precursor. An overview of using NHC as donor ligands with palladium to aid the catalyzing of different coupling and carbonylation reactions that can be used in production of bioactive compounds and other medications.