An unprecedented Pd-catalyzed decarboxylative coupling reaction of aromatic carboxylic acids in aqueous medium under air: synthesis of 3-aryl-imidazo[1,2-a]pyridines from aryl chlorides.

An efficient and practical protocol for palladium-catalyzed decarboxylative arylation of imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine-3-carboxylic acids with aryl chlorides has been developed. Note that the reaction could proceed smoothly without an additive in aqueous medium under an ambient atmosphere, and the addition of H2O could effectively promote the decarboxylative arylation. Particularly noteworthy is that these results represent the first examples of Pd-catalyzed decarboxylative coupling reactions of (hetero) aromatic carboxylic acids in aqueous medium under air, and the first successful examples of the synthesis of 3-aryl-imidazo[1,2-a]pyridines using cheap, diverse aryl chlorides and heteroaryl chlorides as the starting materials.