The mechanism of palladium-catalyzed Sonogashira cross-coupling reaction has been studied theoretically by DFT （density functional theory） calculations. The model system studied consists of Pd（PH3）2 as the starting catalyst complex, phenyl bromide as the substrate and acetylene as the terminal alkyne, without regarding to the co-catalyst and base. Mechanistically and energetically plausible catalytic cycles for the cross-coupling have been identified. The DFT analysis shows that the catalytic cycle occurs in three stages： oxidative addition of phenyl bromide to the palladium center, alkynylation of palladium（Ⅱ） intermediate, and reductive elimination to phenylacetylene. In the oxidative addition, the neutral and anionic pathways have been investigated, which could both give rise to cis-configured palladium（Ⅱ） diphosphine intermediate. Starting from the palladium（Ⅱ） diphosphine intermediate, the only identifiable pathway in alkynylation involves the dissociation of Br group and the formation of square-planar palladium（Ⅱ） intermediate, in which the phenyl and alkynyl groups are oriented cis to each other. Due to the close proximity of phenyl and alkynyl groups, the reductive elimination of phenylacetylene proceeds smoothly.
Based on DFT calculations, the catalytic mechanism of palladium（0） atom, commonly considered as the catalytic center for Sonogashira cross-coupling reactions, has been analyzed in this study. In the cross-coupling reaction of iodobenzene with phenylacetylene without co-catalysts and bases involved, mechanistically plausible catalytic cycles have been computationally identified. These catalytic cycles typically occur in three stages： 1） oxidative addition of an iodobenzene to the Pd（0） atom, 2） reaction of the product of oxidative addition with phenylacetylene to generate an intermediate with the Csp bound to palladium, and 3） reductive elimination to couple the phenyl group with the phenylethynyl group and to regenerate the Pd（0） atom. The calculations show that the first stage gives rise to a two-coordinate palladium （Ⅱ） intermediate （ArPdI）. Starting from this intermediate, the second oxidative stage, in which the C–H bond of acetylene adds to Pd（Ⅱ） without co-catalyst involved, is called alkynylation instead of transmetalation and proceeds in two steps. Stage 3 of reductive elimination of diphenylacetylene is energetically favorable. The results demonstrate that stage 2 requires the highest activation energy in the whole catalysis cycle and is the most difficult to happen, where co-catalysts help to carry out Sonogashira coupling reaction smoothly.
