Elements of regiocontrol in palladium-catalyzed oxidative arene cross-coupling.

An increasing emphasis on waste minimization has prompted research aimed at replacing common synthetic techniques with greener alternatives. In biaryl synthesis, direct arylation1,2 is an emerging alternative to Suzuki and Stille couplings;3 however, a more efficient strategy would involve the direct catalytic crosscoupling of two arenes without recourse to stoichiometric activating groups (eq 1).4-7 This last approach presents several new challenges,