Palladium-Catalyzed Regioselective Homocoupling of Arenes Using Anodic Oxidation: Formal Electrolysis of Aromatic Carbon-Hydrogen Bonds

Palladium-catalyzed regioselective homocoupling of arylpyridines under anodic oxidation conditions was achieved in the presence of I-2. The dimerization of meta-substituted arylpyridines proceeded selectively at less-sterically congested ortho-positions, and the selectivity is different from that reported for the palladium-catalyzed dimerization using Oxone as an oxidant. The dimerization also proceeds using catalytic amounts of both Pd(OAc)(2) and I-2 under the electrochemical reaction conditions.