Photocatalyst-free, Visible Light Driven, Gold Promoted Suzuki Synthesis of (Hetero)biaryls

A visible-light driven Suzuki cross-coupling reaction was performed with colored and bench-stable arylazosulfones in the presence of Ph3PAuCl (5 mol%) as the catalyst. The absence of a photocatalyst, along with the use of commercially available and easy-to-handle arylboronic acids underline the novelty and synthetic usefulness of the protocol. A reaction mechanism involving the generation of an aryl radical as the key intermediate has been proposed on the basis of experimental investigations.