A method that allows salicylaldehydes to be efficiently transformed into meta-arylated phenol derivatives through a cascade oxidation/arylation/protodecarboxylation sequence is presented. We demonstrate that the aldehyde functional group can be used as a convenient removable directing group to control site selectivity in C-H activation. Aldehydes are easily introduced into the starting materials and the group is readily cleaved after the C-H functionalization event.
Keywords: C−H activation; arylation; meta-selective; phenols; salicylaldehydes.
© 2015 The Authors. Published by Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA.