C3-symmetric tripalladium(II) complex for catalysis via geometrical coincident interaction with C3-symmetric substrate

Reaction of cis -protected [(Me 4 en)Pd(SO 4 )] with the newly designed C 3 -symmetric Ba 3 L anionic ligand produces a stable trinuclear [(Me 4 enPd) 3 L] in a cis - O , O ′ mode. A characteristic structural feature is that [(Me 4 enPd) 3 L] consists of a total of 10 rings with one 6-membered central benzene ring, three 5-membered rings (PdN 2 C 2 ), three 6-membered rings (PdO 2 C 3 ), and three 7-membered rings. This tripalladium(II) complex shows significant multi-center catalytic efficiency in the Heck reaction with the appropriate C 3 -symmetric trifunctional substrate via geometrical coincident interaction between the substrate and the catalyst. A theoretical calculation of the geometrical intermolecular interaction-behavior between the catalyst ([(Me 4 enPd) 3 L]) and the substrate (1,3,5-tris(4-iodophenyl)benzene) in N , N -dimethylformamide solution was carried out. Graphical abstract