Palladium-catalyzed reductive coupling of styrenes and organostannanes under aerobic conditions

We report a highly regioselective Pd-II-catalyzed reductive coupling of an alkene with an organostannane using a tandem alcohol oxidation under aerobic conditions. Both aryl- and vinylstannanes are competent coupling partners with a variety of styrene derivatives. Mechanistic experiments support a tandem alcohol oxidation/alkene functionalization process. The ability to trap a palladium hydride derived from alcohol oxidation with an alkene provides a fundamentally different approach to cross-coupling reactions.