Buchwald–Hartwig amination of aryl esters and chlorides catalyzed by the dianisole-decorated Pd–NHC complex

A modular and generic method for the Buchwald-Hartwig amination reactions of relatively unreactive aryl esters as acyl electrophiles and aryl chlorides as aryl electrophiles has been developed, leading to the efficient synthesis of amides/amines under air conditions and with low catalyst loadings. The success of this catalytic protocol is mainly attributed to the modification of the Pd-IPr skeleton with sterically hindered and electron-donating anisole groups. This method also features good functional group tolerance and excellent chemoselectivities. In summary, the results presented herein suggest the possibility of developing a versatile and general protocol for diverse electrophiles to undergo the Buchwald-Hartwig amination reactions, avoiding too much consideration of the reaction conditions for the substrate-dependent C-N bond formations.