Selective deuteration of (hetero)aromatic compounds via deutero-decarboxylation of carboxylic acids

A practical, mild and highly selective protocol for the monodeuteration of a variety of arenes and heteroarenes is presented. Catalytic amounts of Ag(I) salts in DMSO/D2O are shown to facilitate the deutero-decarboxylation of ortho-substituted benzoic and heteroaromatic alpha-carboxylic acids in high yields with excellent levels of deuterium incorporation.