Cationic Palladium(II)-Catalyzed Addition of Arylboronic Acids to Nitriles. One-Step Synthesis of Benzofurans from Phenoxyacetonitriles

A cationic palladium complex catalyzed addition of arylboronic acids to nitriles to yield aryl ketones with moderate to good yields was
developed. A one-step synthesis of benzofurans from phenoxyacetonitriles under the catalysis of [(bpy)Pd+(μ-OH)]2(-OTf)2 or [(bpy)Pd2+(H2O)2](-OTf)2
was developed which showed that the cationic palladium catalyst is highly active for these addition reactions.