Synthesis of nitrodienes, nitrostyrenes, and nitrobiaryls through palladium-catalyzed couplings of β-nitrovinyl and o-nitroaryl thioethers

A highly efficient, base-free, mild protocol for the palladium-catalyzed, copper-activated desulfitative couplings of vinyl and aryl beta-nitrothioethers generates a wide variety of conjugated nitroorganics. Orthogonality to traditional Suzuki-Miyaura coupling is demonstrated, as well as synthetic utility, through reductive Cadogan cyclization, for the formation of indoles, carbazoles, and pyrroles.