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Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Cross-coupling reactions of unactivated alkyl halides

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

My graduate research at MIT has been focused on the development of palladium- or nickel-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions using unactivated alkyl electrophiles (e.g., halides and sulfonates). Although aryl and alkenyl electrophiles have been commonly used in such processes, the utility of alkyl substrates has been underdeveloped, and merits further exploration. We have developed the first palladium-based catalyst that is effective for Negishi couplings of primary alkyl electrophiles. A single protocol (2%Pd₂(dba)₃/8%P(Cyp)₃/NMI in THF/NMP at 80⁰C) can be applied to a broad spectrum of electrophiles, including chlorides, bromides, iodides, and tosylates. Concerning the scope of the nucleophilic components, an array of alkyl-, alkenyl-, and arylzinc halides can be coupled. The process is tolerant of a variety of functional groups, including esters, amides, imides, nitriles, and heterocycles. Furthermore, geometrically- defined alkenylzinc species, generated from titanium-mediated hydrozincation of internal alkynes, can be directly used in the process. Despite the progress in nickel- and palladium-catalyzed C(sp³)-C(sp³) bond formation, the methods had been limited to primary alkyl electrophiles.

Degree

thesis:*
Department dc:contributor.department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Chemistry.
Grantor dc:publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Year dc:date.issued
2005

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Zhou, Jianrong (Jianrong Steve)
Advisor dc:contributor.advisor
  • Gregory C. Fu.

Subjects

dc:subject × 1

Rights

dc:rights
Statement dc:rights
  • M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.
Language dc:language.iso
eng

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Handle dc:identifier.uri
http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/33655
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/33655

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
MIT
Base URL
dspace.mit.edu/oai/request
Last updated
2026-07-22
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
related terms
citation

Zhou, Jianrong (Jianrong Steve). Cross-coupling reactions of unactivated alkyl halides. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/33655