Involvement of Intramolecular Hydride Transfer in the Formation of Alkanes from Palladium Alkyls

Intramolecular hydride transfer in a dimer between Pd atoms and reductive elimination of H and a benzyl moiety to give PhCH 2 CH 2 C 6 F 5 ( 3 ) is the main decomposition pathway for the hydrido species generated from the η 3 -benzylpalladium derivative [Pd 2 (μ-Br) 2 (η 3 -CHPhCH 2 C 6 F 5 ) 2 ] ( 1 ). The commonly accepted decomposition of the palladium hydride to give Pd(0) and HX, followed by acid attack on 1 to produce the alkane, is ruled out in this case.