SYNTHESIS OF PHOSPHINOENOLATE (ALKYL) AND (ARYL) PALLADIUM(II) COMPLEXES, ANALOGS TO THE NICKEL SHOP CATALYST

Phosphinoenolate (aryl) nickel(II) complexes are good models of indust rial catalysts used for the oligomerization of ethylene to linear a-ol efins. Their synthesis involves the oxidative addition of a P-aryl bon d of a functional ylide to a Ni(O) complex, which has prevented access to similar complexes of other metals. We describe here the synthesis of their first palladium analogues. This opens the way to an investiga tion of the influence of the metal centre on the reactivity and cataly tic properties of this family of complexes.