Highly regioselective palladium-catalyzed direct cross-coupling of imidazo[1,2-a]pyridines with arylboronic acids

A highly regioselective method for the palladium-catalyzed direct cross-coupling of imidazo[1,2-a]pyridines with arylboronic acids has been developed by using O-2 as oxidant. This process can be applied to a wide range of imidazo[1,2-a]pyridines and arylboronic acids with excellent C-3-regioselectivity. It provides a new way for developing C-C bond-forming processes of multisubstituted imidazo[1,2-a]pyridines, which are common structural motifs in natural products and pharmaceuticals. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.