Selected patented cross-coupling reaction technologies

A number of significant products commercialized or in the developmental phase, possess aromatic carbon-carbon and the aromatic carbon-nitrogen bonds which can be assembled by organometallic catalyst cross-coupling reactions. Thus, the scale-up of any new and general technology for the formation of these bonds can be of great industrial significance. An overview is given of palladium-, nickel-, copper-, and iron-catalyzed coupling reactions that provide many valuable and versatile pathways for discovery chemistry as well as large-scale synthesis and manufacture. It is shown that many important classes of pharmaceuticals would be difficult to prepare without reactions such as the Heck, Negishi, and Sonogashira reactions.