Access to Cinnamyl Derivatives from Arenes and Allyl Esters by a Biomimetic Aerobic Oxidative Dehydrogenative Coupling

An efficient biomimetic aerobic oxidative dehydrogenative alkenylation of arenes with allyl esters is presented. The reaction proceeds under an ambient pressure of oxygen with relatively low catalyst loading of palladium acetate, employing catalytic amounts of electron-transfer mediators (ETMs). This study represents a new environmentally friendly method for the synthesis of cinnamyl derivatives.