In recent years, transition metal-catalyzed direct (hetero)arylation reactions of heteroarenes with (hetero)aryl halides and pseudohalides have received significant attention as eco-friendly and economic alternatives to classical methods for the construction of heteroaryl-(hetero)aryl C À C bonds by transition metal-catalyzed cross-couplings involving the use of stoichiometric amounts of organometallic reagents. This critical review with 430 references covers the results obtained in the period January 2009 to February 2013 in the area of the transition metal-catalyzed direct inter-and intramolecular (hetero)arylation reactions of heteroarenes containing one heteroatom. Particular attention has been given to illustrate chemo-and site selectivity aspects of these reactions as well applications of these C À C bond forming reactions in the synthesis of pharmaceutically relevant compounds, natural products and their analogues and precursors. The most recent advancements into the mechanism(s) of these reactions have also been briefly reported.

The palladium-catalyzed Suzuki-Miyaura reaction of multiply halogenated, electron-rich and electron-deficient heteroarenes is one of the most reliable and environmentally friendly tools for installing a wide range of non-functionalized and functionalized carbon substituents onto heteroaromatic systems with exquisite chemo-and site-selectivity. For substrates with different halogen groups the chemoselectivity of the Suzuki-Miyaura reactions has been found to be dependent on the reactivity difference between the halogens. However, the hardest achievement of selectivity in Suzuki-Miyaura monocouplings involving polyhalogenated heteroarenes with identical halogen atoms has been shown to be dominated by steric and electronic effects and the presence of directing groups at positions neighbouring the reaction sites. Moreover, in the case of symmetrically substituted dihaloheteroarenes with identical halogen atoms, highly selective monocoupling reactions have often been achieved only after a careful optimization of reaction parameters including the catalyst precursor, base, solvent, and the molar ratio between electrophile and organoboron reagent. This critical review with 341 references covers developments on the chemo-and site-selective Suzuki-Miyaura monocoupling reactions of polyhalogenated heteroarenes with different or identical halogen atoms. It also includes the synthesis of polysubstituted heteroarenes, not easily accessible by other means, via consecutive monocoupling reactions and/ or a more synthetically valuable approach involving one-pot polycoupling reactions.

A mild, general, and convenient palladium-catalyzed direct arylation of the 5-position of azoles with aryl bromides, efficiently promoted by tetrabutylammonium acetate, is described. 1-Methylpyrazole, oxazole, and thiazole reacted at 70 degrees C in N,N-dimethylacetamide by using Pd(OAc)(2) as the catalyst precursor. Electron-poor and -rich functional groups, including the free hydroxy group, are well tolerated in the electrophilic partner. A variety of 5-aryl-1-methylimidazoles were also very efficiently obtained simply by raising the reaction temperature to 110 degrees C. This ligand-free protocol was successfully applied to the one-pot synthesis of two bioactive natural compounds, balsoxin and texaline, starting from oxazole by sequential direct arylation of the 5- and 2-positions

The possibility of exploiting supramolecular architectures for the preparation of innovative mechanochromic devices has been extended by designing novel thienyl-substituted 1,4-bis(ethynyl)benzene dyes, which are characterized by a conjugated, rigid, rodlike core structure. This new family of chromophores was synthesized according to a simple two-step sequential cross-coupling reaction, and the optical properties were investigated in solution and in a polymeric matrix. To tune the mechanochromic performances in smart polymer materials, a virtual screening was set up that was able to select a derivative with optimal spectral features. The effective combination of experimental and computational investigations allowed us to spot those homologues with already potential anisotropic and aggregachromic features and characterized by the best spectral properties and luminescent response. The best candidate was synthesized and dispersed into a polyethylene matrix, indeed achieving an "in silico designed" mechanochromic material. Besides the specific applications of this novel material, the integration of computational and experimental techniques reported here defines an efficient protocol that can be applied to make a selection among similar dye candidates, which constitute the essential responsive part of such supramolecular devices.

PMMA_TPE_RED polymers containing 0.98–3.05 wt% of a red-emitting AIEgen were prepared and proposed as high performance luminescent solar concentrators.