Solvent-free direct cyclopalladation of sulfides on silica gel

Direct cyclopalladation of benzyl methyl sulfide, benzyl phenyl sulfide and 1,3-bis(methylthiomethyl)benzene using Pd(OAc)2 can be accomplished using silica gel instead of a solvent. The yields of the corresponding cyclopalladated complexes in these green transformations are very similar to those obtained using conventional solvent conditions. The X-ray crystallographic data for trans-Pd(HL)2Cl2 (HL = benzyl methyl sulfide) are reported.