C?X (X=Br, I) Bond-Tolerant Aerobic Oxidative Cross- Coupling: A Strategy to Selectively Construct ß-Aryl Ketones and Aldehydes

Using moelcular oxygen as the terminal oxidant, various aryl halide-containing beta-aryl ketones and aldehydes can be synthesized directly from readily available allyic alcohols and boronic acids via palladium-catalyzed oxidative cross-coupling reactions. The dual roles of copper, including electron-carrier and Lewis acid functions, are supposed to be critical for the high reactivity and selectivity of this aerobic oxidative coupling transformation.