Palladium-catalyzed electrophilic allylation reactions via bis(allyl)palladium complexes and related intermediates

The synthetic scope of the allyl-palladium chemistry can be extended to involve electrophilic reagents. The greatest challange in these reactions is the catalytic generation of an allyl-palladium intermediate incorporating a nucleophilic allyl moiety. A vast majority of the published reactions that involve palladium-catalyzed allylation of electrophiles proceed via bis(allyl)-palladium intermediates. The eta(1)-moiety of the bis(allyl)-palladium intermediates reacts with electrophiles, including aldehydes, imines, or Michael acceptors. Recently, catalytic electrophilic allylations via monoallylpalladium complexes were also presented by employment of so-called "pincer complex" catalysts.