A Versatile System of Solvent, Catalyst, and Ligand for Challenging Biphenyl Synthesis Through Suzuki-Miyaura Reactions.

Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling reactions are difficult when both reaction partners (boronic acid and halide) are electron-poor. We describe here a system of solvent, catalyst, and ligand with which also electron-poor substrates react, without the necessity to try several conditions. The system consists of N-methylpyrrolidone as solvent, tris(dibenzylidenaceton)dipalladium(0) as catalyst, CuI as cocatalyst, and Davephos as ligand. This combination yields little or no Ullmann product, and the desired cross-coupling product is in moderate to excellent yields.