Palladium-Catalyzed Diarylation of Isocyanides with Tetraarylleads for the Selective Synthesis of Imines and α‑Diimines

Using tetraaryllead compounds (PbAr4) as arylating reagents, isocyanides undergo selective diarylation in the presence of palladium catalysts such as Pd­(OAc)2 or Pd­(PPh3)4 to afford imines and/or α-diimines based on the isocyanide employed. With aliphatic isocyanides, imines are obtained preferentially, whereas α-diimines are formed in the case of electron-rich aromatic isocyanides. The differences in imine/α-diimine selectivity can be attributed to the stability of imidoylpalladium intermediates formed in this catalytic reaction. Compared with other arylating reagents, tetraaryllead compounds are excellent candidates for use in the selective transformations to imines and/or α-diimines, especially in terms of inhibiting the oligomerization of isocyanides, which results in a lower product selectivity in many transition-metal-catalyzed reactions of isocyanides.