B₂cat₂-Mediated Reduction of Sulfoxides to Sulfides

An efficient and operationally simple method for the reduction of sulfoxides to sulfides has been developed using bis(catecholato)diboron (B₂cat₂) as a reducing agent. The present method accommodates various functional groups which are generally prone to reduction: halides, alkynes, carbonyls, nitriles, and heterocycles are totally intact, and only sulfoxide moieties undergo reduction chemoselectively. Moreover, the remaining diboron and the resulting boron‐containing wastes are readily removable, the practicality of this protocol being thus demonstrated

Mechanistic and Kinetic Investigation on the Formation of Palladacyclopentadiene Complexes. A Novel Interpretation Involving a Bimolecular Self Reaction of a Monoalkyne Intermediate

The stoichiometric reaction between the complex [Pd(eta(2)-dmfu)(BiPy)] (dmfu = dimethylfumarate; BiPy = 2,2'-bipyridine) and the deactivated alkynes dmbd (dimethyl-2-butynedioate) and pna (methyl (4-nitrophenyl)propynoate), providing the respective palladacyclopentadienes, was investigated. The mechanism leading to the palladacyclopentadiene derivative involves a bimolecular self-rearrangement of the monoalkyne intermediate [Pd(eta(2)-alk)(BiPy)] (alk = dmbd, pna), followed by the customary attack of the free alkyne on the intermediate [Pd(eta(2)-alk)(BiPy)] itself and on the elusive and highly reactive "naked palladium" [Pd(BiPy)(0)] formed. The alkyne pna proved to be less effective in the displacement of dmfu than dmbd. The reaction under stoichiometric equimolar conditions of the latter with [Pd(eta(2)-dmfu)(BiPy)] allows the direct determination of the bimolecular self-reaction rate constant k(c) and consequently the assessment of all the rate constants involved in the overall mechanistic network