Pd-catalyzed oxidative cross-coupling between two electron rich heteroarenes

Abstract

The transition-metal-catalyzed oxidative cross-coupling between two coupling partners with similar structure and electronic characteristics remains a challenge owing to difficulty in suppressing undesired homo-couplings. We herein report a Pd-catalyzed oxidative cross-coupling between two thiophenes under mild reaction conditions. This approach can also be extended to furans. Some notable advantages of this reaction lie in its synthetic simplicity with the omission of the toxic stannanes coupling partner and excellent functional-group compatibility. The features of this protocol make it an ideal strategy for the construction of a 2,2′-thiophene–thiophene linkage of interest in electronic and optoelectronic materials.