Monodentate Phosphorus Ligand-Enabled General Palladium-Catalyzed Allylic C-H Alkylation of Terminal Alkenes

Monodentate phosphorus ligands have been found to enable the palladium-catalyzed allylic C-H alkylation reaction of terminal alkenes with a wide variety of carbon nucleophiles. Moreover, an asymmetric allylic C-H alkylation of terminal alkenes with pyrazol-5-ones has been established in the presence of chiral phosphoramidite ligand and chiral phosphoric acid as co-catalyst. Mechanistic studies suggest that a ternary Pd(0) complex, coordinated with a monodentate phosphorus ligand, benzoquinone, and alkene, is most likely to be an active species.