New Phosphorus Ligands in Catalysis

This work is performed in collaboration with Prof. Dake.  We have developed a new class of P,N ligand where both phosphorus and nitrogen are sp2 hybrid. Such low-coordinate phosphorus compounds are attractive because their unique π-acceptor properties impart desirable characteristics to electron-rich transition metal centers.  We have shown that palladium(II) complexes containing these new ligands are effective catalysts for the Overman-Claisen rearrangement of rearrangement of allyl trichloroacetimidates to branched amides