Iron-Catalyzed Regioselective Direct Oxidative Aryl–Aryl Cross-Coupling

Regioselective iron-catalyzed cross-dehydrogenative coupling (CDC) of two aromatic compounds using tert-BuOOH as oxidant under mild conditions has been reported. The direct oxidative coupling reaction is selective toward creation of a carbon–carbon bond at the position ortho to the functional groups of the substrates, completely preventing the homocoupled products. The C–C bond-forming reaction makes the method versatile, leading to functionalized 2,2′ -disubstituted biaryls.