Oligoarenes as molecular backbones of catalysts: synthesis and applications

This feature article highlights our recent work on oligoarene-type catalysts. We developed a synthetic method for multifunctionalized oligoarenes using a repetitive two-step strategy. The method was then applied to the preparation of oligoarene-type phosphines, which were used for palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling of halobenzenes with Grignard reagents.