Direct Acylation of Aryl Chlorides with Aldehydes by Palladium-Pyrrolidine Co-catalysis

A palladium catalyst system has been developed that allows for the direct acylation of aryl chlorides with aldehydes. The choice of ligand, as well as the presence of pyrrolidine and molecular sieves is shown to be critical to the catalysis, which appears to proceed via an enamine intermediate. The reaction was successful for a wide range of aryl chlorides and tolerant of functionality on the aldehyde component, giving easy access to alkyl aryl ketones in modest to good yields.