Preparation of functionalized organoindium reagents by means of magnesium insertion into organic halides in the presence of InCl₃ at room temperature

Magnesium, indium, palladium: An efficient one-pot procedure for the direct preparation of triorganoindium reagents from organic halides by means of magnesium insertion in the presence of InCl₃ and LiCl is reported (see scheme). The organoindium reagents are obtained in good yields from functionalized aryl, heteroaryl, and alkyl bromides and benzyl chlorides at 25 °C in THF within 4h. Moreover, the resulting organoindium reagents could be efficiently used as reagents in Pd-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions with a wide functional group tolerance.