XPhos is an organophosphorus compound derived from biphenyl

Biphenyl

Biphenyl is an organic compound that forms colorless crystals. It has a distinctively pleasant smell. Biphenyl is an aromatic hydrocarbon with a molecular formula 2...

. Its palladium complexes exhibit high activity for Buchwald-Hartwig amination reaction

Buchwald-Hartwig reaction

The Buchwald–Hartwig reaction is a chemical reaction used in organic chemistry for the synthesis of carbon–nitrogen bonds via the palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling of amines with aryl halides. Though publications with similar focus were published as early as 1983, credit for its development is...

s involving aryl chlorides and aryl tosylates. Both palladium and copper complexes of the compound exhibit high activity for the coupling of aryl halides and aryl tosylates with various amide

Amide

In chemistry, an amide is an organic compound that contains the functional group consisting of a carbonyl group linked to a nitrogen atom . The term refers both to a class of compounds and a functional group within those compounds. The term amide also refers to deprotonated form of ammonia or an...

s. The ligand has convenient handling characteristics since it is air-stable.