Kropp, Antonia2024-12-112024-12-112024https://hdl.handle.net/1828/20836My research revolved around a mechanistic study of a newly developed palladium catalyst precursor. Palladium cross-coupling reactions are largely used in pharmaceutical and agrochemical industries and new precursors are developed to be stable in storage, have high TONs, low catalyst loading and, ideally, yield monoligated species (which are highly reactive due to their coordinatively unsaturated nature). The better the catalyst, the more affordable the products (such as medicine). Utilizing mass spectrometry, I investigated the catalyst activation and the first step in the catalytic cycle (oxidative addition) of the new palladium precursor. This involved studying the reaction mechanisms by which it activates, how it behaves, what intermediates form and whether it forms the desirable monoligated species. Due to the catalyst’s air-sensitive nature, I employed special techniques to keep everything as oxygen-free as possible. This includes the use of a glovebox (nitrogen-filled chamber), Schlenk lines and oxygen purging techniques. Results show that the precursor activates rapidly under mild reaction conditions with very low catalyst loading, yielding the desirable monoligated species via associative ligand exchange. The oxidative addition complex is also monoligated and separable from solution.enchemistrymass spectrometryorganometallicscatalysispalladiummonoligatedPoster