Chemo-, regio-, and stereoselective Heck-Matsuda arylation of allylic alcohols under mild conditions

Heck arylation with allylic alcohol is extremely challenging due to chemo-, regio-, and stereoselective scrambling. Here we report a mild protocol for the alcohol selective beta- and alpha-arylation of allylic and cinnamyl alcohols respectively with aryldiazonium salts. The steric and electronic parameters of the alkene play a prominent role in the regioselectivity.