Orthoplatinated triarylphosphite as a highly efficient catalyst for addition reactions of arylboronic acids with aldehydes: low catalyst loading catalysis and a new tandem reaction sequence.

Readily available, air/moisture-stable orthoplatinated triarylphosphite catalyzes the addition reactions of arylboronic acids with aldehydes with the catalyst loading as low as 0.01%. It also cataylzes a new tandem reaction of arylboronic acids with alpha,beta-unsaturated aldehydes to form 1,3-diaryl-1-propanols. Our study provides a new paradigm for the application of orthoplatinated triarylphosphites, and may pave the road to develop other Pt(II) catalysts for such addition reactions and other tandem reactions with such addition reactions as part of the reaction sequence.