Prolinamides are well-known organocatalysts for the HSiCl3 reduction of imines; however, custom design of catalysts is based on trial-and-error experiments. In this work, we have used a combination of computational calculations and experimental work, including kinetic analyses, to properly understand this process and to design optimized catalysts for the benchmark (E)-N-(1-phenylethylidene)aniline. The best results have been obtained with the amide derived from 4-methoxyaniline and the N-pivaloyl protected proline, for which the catalyzed process is almost 600 times faster than the uncatalyzed one. Mechanistic studies reveal that the formation of the component supramolecular complex catalyst-HSiCl3-substrate, involving hydrogen bonding breaking and costly conformational changes in the prolinamide, is an important step in the overall process.

The combination of supported ionic liquids and immobilized NHC–Pd–RuPhos led to active and more stable systems for the Negishi reaction under continuous flow conditions than those solely based on NHC–Pd–RuPhos. The fine tuning of the NHC–Pd catalyst and the SILLPs is a key factor for the optimization of the release and catch mechanism leading to a catalytic system easily recoverable and reusable for a large number of catalytic cycles enhancing the long-term catalytic performance.