Highly selective directed arylation reactions via back-to-back dehydrogenative C-H borylation/arylation reactions

Dimeric rhodium N-heterocyclic carbene complexes are demonstrated to be effective catalyst precursors for directed C-H borylation reactions at room temperature. The reactions are highly selective for mono-borylation and can be combined with a one-pot Suzuki-Miyaura coupling to give C-H arylation products with exclusive selectivity for mono-arylation without the requirement for steric blocking groups.