Overcoming rigidity: flexible aliphatic ligand backbones as a standard for the alkoxycarbonylation of alkenes

Abstract

In this study, we present a significant advancement in palladium catalysed alkoxycarbonylation of aliphatic olefins. A comparison of privileged bidentate phosphines with different ligand backbones was conducted. Therefore, it can be inferred that L3, with its propyl backbone, is capable of challenging the state-of-the-art systems (L1 and L2). This ligand is particularly well-suited for ester synthesis from simple alkenes with industrial relevance and challenging alkenes having internal or multiple double bonds. In comparison with the other tested ligands, L3 facilitates more efficient synthesis and scale-up.