Iron-Catalyzed Cross Coupling of Aryl Chlorides with Alkyl Grignard Reagents: Synthetic Scope and FeII/FeIV Mechanism Supported by X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy and Density Functional Theory Calculations

A combination of iron(III) fluoride and 1,3-bis(2,6-diisopropylphenyl)imidazolin-2-ylidene (SIPr) catalyzes the high-yielding cross coupling of an electron-rich aryl chloride with an alkyl Grignard reagent, which cannot be attained using other iron catalysts. A variety of alkoxy- or amino-substituted aryl chlorides can be cross-coupled with various alkyl Grignard reagents regardless of the presence or absence of β-hydrogens in the alkyl group. A radical probe experiment using 1-(but-3-enyl)-2-chlorobenzene does not afford the corresponding cyclization product, therefore excluding the intermediacy of radical species. Solution-phase X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) analysis, with the help of density functional theory (DFT) calculations, indicates the formation of a high-spin (S = 2) heteroleptic difluorido organoferrate(II), [MgX][FeIIF2(SIPr)(Me/alkyl)], in the reaction mixture. DFT calculations also support a feasible reaction pathway, including the formation of a difluorido organoferrate(II) intermediate which undergoes a novel Lewis acid-assisted oxidative addition to form a neutral organoiron(IV) intermediate, which leads to an FeII/FeIV catalytic cycle, where the fluorido ligand and the magnesium ion play key roles.