The regioselectivity of styrene insertion to an acyl-Pd bond was studied by NMR in (i) a stoichiomericreaction and (ii) a copolymerization with CO. In the stoichiometric reaction of styrene with [(CH
3CO)Pd(CH
3CN){(
R,S)-B
INAPHOS}]·[B{3,5-(CF
3)
2C
6H
3}
4], both 1,2- and 2,1-products were given. To mimic thereal polymerization conditions, a polyketone-substituted complex [{CH
3(CH
2CHCH
3CO)
n}Pd{(
R,S)-BINAPHOS}]·[B(3,5-(CF
3)
2C
6H
3)
4] (
n ![](/images/entities/ap.gif)
14) was prepared. When this polymer-attached Pd species was treatedwith styrene, the 1,2-insertion product was the only detectable species. Thus, exclusive 1,2-insertion isdemonstrated to be responsible for the styrene-CO copolymerization, in sharp contrast to the predom
inant2,1-insertion with conventional nitrogen ligands. Chain-end analysis revealed that
![](/images/gifchars/beta2.gif)
-hydride elim
ination tookplace from the 2,1-complex but not from the 1,2-complex. Thus, once 2,1-insertion occurs, rapid
![](/images/gifchars/beta2.gif)
-hydrideelim
ination proceeds to term
inate the polymerization, as is common to the other phosphorus-ligand systems.The resulting Pd-H species re-initiates the copolymerization, as was proven by MALDI-TOF mass analysisof the product copolymers.