Palladium(II)-Catalyzed ortho-Olefination of Arenes Applying Sulfoxides as Remote Directing Groups

A novel palladium-catalyzed ortho-C­(sp2)–H olefination protocol has been developed by the use of sulfoxide as the directing group. Importantly, relatively remote coordination can be accessed to achieve the ortho olefination of benzyl, 2-arylethyl, and 3-arylpropenyl sulfoxide substrates, and the olefinated sulfoxide can be easily transformed to other functionalities.