Exploration of New C−O Electrophiles in Cross-Coupling Reactions

Since their development in the 1970s, cross-coupling reactions catalyzed by transition metals have become one of the most important tools for constructing both carbon-carbon and carbon-heteroatom bonds. Traditionally, organohalides were widely studied and broadly used as the electrophile, both in the laboratory and in industry. Unfortunately, the high cost, environmental toxicity, and sluggish preparation often associated with aryl halides can make them undesirable for the large-scale syntheses of industrial applications. However, with the further development of catalytic systems, and particularly of the ligands contained therein, a variety of electrophiles have now been successfully applied to cross-coupling…