Mechanistic and Performance Studies on the Ligand-Promoted Ullmann Amination Reaction

Over the last two decades many different auxiliary ligand systems have been utilized in the copper-catalyzed Ullmann amination reaction. However, there has been little consensus on the relative merits of the varied ligands and the exact role they might play in the catalytic process. Accordingly, in this work some of the most commonly employed auxiliary ligands have been evaluated for C–N coupling using reaction progress kinetic analysis (RPKA) methodology. The results reveal not only the relative kinetic competencies of the different auxiliary ligands but also their markedly different influences on catalyst degradation rates. For the model Ullmann reaction between piperidine and iodobenzene using the soluble organic base bis(tetra-n-butylphosphonium) malonate (TBPM) at room temperature, N-methylglycine was shown to give the best performance in terms of high catalytic rate of reaction and comparatively low catalyst deactivation rates. Further experimental and rate data indicate a common catalytic cycle for all auxiliary ligands studied, although additional off-cycle processes are observed for some of the ligands (notably phenanthroline). The ability of the auxiliary ligand, base (malonate dianion), and substrate (amine) to all act competitively as ligands for the copper center is also demonstrated. On the basis of these results an improved protocol for room-temperature copper-catalyzed C–N couplings is presented with 27 different examples reported.