This is the first time, say scientists in China, that copper-catalysed decarboxylative reactions have enabled cross-coupling of alkynyl carboxylic acids with aryl halides, under relatively mild reaction conditions.
Jingsong You, Ying Xue and colleagues from Sichuan University in China believe the process is not only simple and convenient in terms of the reaction conditions and purification, but also tolerant of a variety of functional groups. This is a practical route to give unsymmetric internal arylalkynes. The team have also shown that benzofurans can be smoothly prepared by a one-pot domino protocol on the basis of decarboxylative cross-coupling of 2-iodophenol.
The team have published their findings in ChemComm so why not download the article today, which will be free to access until the 9th December.
