Regioselective addition of alcohols to internal 1-aryl-1-alkynes catalyzed by a triangular heterobimetallic Ir2Pd sulfido cluster
The triangular heterobimetallic sulfido cluster [(Cp*Ir)2(μ3-S)2PdCl2] prepared from [PdCl2(cod)] and [Cp*IrCl(μ-SH)2IrCp*Cl] was found to catalyze the addition of alcohols to alkynes to give the corresponding ketals. In particular, internal 1-aryl-1-alkynes were transformed into the corresponding 2,2-dialkoxy-1-arylalkanes with high regioselectivity. The analogous Ir2PtS2 cluster proved to be much less selective.