Mild hydroarylation of alkynes with chelating dicarbene palladium(II) complex catalysts

Chelating dicarbene palladium(II) complexes have been found to catalyse the hydroarylation of alkynes with excellent conversions and selectivities at low catalyst loading (0.1 mol.%). Products of formal trans hydroarylation of the triple bond are formed in high yields. Optimisation of the reaction parameters (nature of the solvent system, concentration of the reagents, reaction temperature) allows to further increase the selectivity of the reaction under mild reaction conditions.