Abstract
Mechanistic studies are essential for the continued advancement of the chemical sciences however; classical approaches remain laborious and material intensive. Graphical reaction analysis techniques such as RPKA and VTNA have substantially reduced this burden, yet the time and resources required to comprehensively study increasingly complex reactions remain high. Medium- and high-throughput batch and flow kinetic methods have been developed to further streamline data acquisition, but their widespread adoption is limited by the need for specialized equipment or expertise. Here we introduce dynamic parameter screening (DPS), in which a single batch reaction is monitored continuously while sequential reagent and catalyst additions are used to probe kinetic impacts of multiple species within one experimental setup. Using the palladium-catalyzed Kumada–Tamao–Corriu cross-coupling as a model system, we compared DPS with traditional one-factor-at-a-time approach across three catalytic systems (PdCl2(dppf)·CH2Cl2, PEPPSI-iPr, and XPhos Pd G2). DPS afforded essentially identical qualitative and quantitative (kinetic modeling) conclusions except for the case of XPhos Pd G2. This latter system exhibited multiple kinetic regimes where the traditional approach revealed the global impact of reagent concentrations, whereas DPS provided complementary, higher-resolution insight into reagent effects within a specific kinetic regime. The insights obtained from DPS guided a simple slow-dosing strategy that markedly improved reaction rates even at reduced catalyst loadings. DPS therefore provides a practical, low-barrier route to high-resolution kinetic information that is fully compatible with conventional modeling, broadening access to mechanistic understanding in resource-limited settings.