Palladium-Catalyzed Template Directed C‑5 Selective Olefination of Thiazoles

An efficient method has been developed to afford highly C-5 selective olefination of thiazole derivatives utilizing a bifunctional template in an intermolecular fashion. Coordinative interaction between the substrates and the metal chelated template backbone plays a crucial role in high C-5 selectivity. Excellent selectivity for the C-5 position was observed while mono substituted (2- or 4-) or even more challenging unsubstituted thiazoles were employed.