Review Redox-Induced Aromatic C–H Bond Functionalization in Metal Complex Catalysis from the Electrochemical Point of View Yulia H. Budnikova *, Yulia B. Dudkina and Mikhail N. Khrizanforov A.E. Arbuzov Institute of Organic and Physical Chemistry, Kazan Scientific Center, Russian Academy of Sciences, Arbuzov str. 8, 420088 Kazan, Russian Federation;
[email protected] (Y.B.D.);
[email protected] (M.N.K.) * Correspondence:
[email protected]; Tel.: +7-843-279-5335 Received: 18 September 2017; Accepted: 12 October 2017; Published: 16 October 2017 Abstract: This review generalizes and specifies the oxidizing ability of a number of oxidants used in palladium (Pd)-catalyzed aromatic C–H functionalizations. The redox potentials have been analyzed as the measure of oxidant strength and applied to the reasoning of the efficiency of known reactions where catalytic cycles include cyclometalated palladium complexes (and other organopalladium key intermediates). Keywords: palladium; oxidant; metal complex catalysis; electrochemistry; redox potential 1. Introduction Transition-metal-catalyzed direct C–H functionalizations open a new road for diverse C–C, C– P, and C–N bond construction in a one-step and atom economical way, without the requirement of prefunctionalized C–H coupling partners [1–6]. The cleavage of high energy C–H bonds (E ~ 110 kcal·mol−1 for C(aryl)–H bonds) typically requires harsh reaction conditions that result in limited substrate scope and low functional group tolerance. The driving force of the current research is the development of the next generation of C–H transformations, which will help make these processes truly useful synthetic tools and develop reactions that proceed under milder conditions.