Research Trends on the Coupling Reaction with Imidazole Carbene-Palladium Complexes

Palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling reaction could be widely used as powerful and valuable methods for the construction of carbon-carbon or carbon-heteroatom bonds. In addition to classical phosphine palladium complexes, the newly-developed N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) palladium complexes have also been established and applied successfully in many coupling reactions. In the study of NHC-Pd complexes, the exploration of new NHC ligands, new supporting ligands and new reaction system are main research fields, which would promote the sound and sustainable development of the coupling reactions with NHC-Pd complexes. Based on the latest literature reviews, the imidazole ligands and the process on the coupling reaction with imidazole-Pd complexes were reviewed in detail.