An inexpensive and highly stable ligand 1,4-bis(2-hydroxy-3,5-di-tert-butylbenzyl)piperazine for Mizoroki–Heck and room temperature Suzuki–Miyaura cross-coupling reactions

A bulky, inexpensive and simple bidentate ligand 1,4-bis(2-hydroxy-3,5-di-tert-butylbenzyl)piperazine (1) has been synthesized and characterized. The palladium catalyst was formed by combination of 1 with [Cl2Pd(COD)] in a ratio of 1:1, tested in the Suzuki–Miyaura and Mizoroki–Heck cross-coupling reactions. Coupling of a variety of aryl bromides with phenylboronic acid using methanol as solvent at room temperature, or at 60 °C, gave generally high yields of coupled products. Coupling of aryl chlorides with organoboron reagent at 110 °C in DMF afforded good yields of biaryls under aerobic conditions. This non-phosphorus, air and moisture stable catalyst also displays good activity for Mizoroki–Heck coupling reaction in methanol at 60 °C with various aryl chlorides and bromides.