Pentafluoroiodosylbenzene (C6F5IO) selectively oxidizes Pd−C bonds of a series of
cyclopalladated 2-(alkylthio)azobenzene complexes. The kinetics of oxygen atom insertion
into the Pd−C bond of one representative compound has been studied in detail to understand
the mechanism of this reaction. At 20 °C Pd−C bond oxidation takes place smoothly in
acetonitrile at a rate of 0.08 M-1 s-1, whereas this reaction does not proceed in solvents
such as dichloromethane and chloroform. The ΔH
⧧ and ΔS
⧧ values for this reaction are 55.5
± 3.5 kJ/mol and −75.7 ± 11.5 eu, respectively. Among other oxidants, hydroperoxy radical
(for example, t-BuOO•) is found to be extremely efficient, whereas the highly electrophilic
oxoiron(IV) porphyrin cation radical (oxene) is incapable of oxidizing the Pd−C bond. Oxene,
however, selectively oxidizes the thioether functionality. These observations suggest that
nucleophilic attack of the oxidant molecule on palladium(II) could be the most crucial step
prior to Pd−C bond oxidation. A large negative value of ΔS
⧧ supports an associative
mechanism, and a smooth reaction in polar solvent supports a polar intermediate structure.
Hydroperoxides, in the presence of a catalytic amount of iron(III) porphyrin chloride,
selectively oxidizes the Pd−C bond. This observation, coupled with the fact that oxene oxidizes
the thioether functionality, indicates that oxene may not be the major reactive intermediate
in hydroperoxide oxidations. On the basis of these experimental results, we have attempted
to draw a plausible mechanism of Pd−C bond oxidation.