Palladium-Catalyzed Carbonylative Homocoupling of 2-Iodophenols for the Synthesis of Symmetrical Xanthones

Abstract

Herein, we report the palladium catalysed carbonylative synthesis of symmetrical xanthones from functionalised 2-iodophenols in one pot manner. The protocol involves homocoupling of 2-iodophenols using Pd catalyst, Cs2CO3 as base with gaseous CO as C1 building block. The simple, ligand-free and additive free strategy provides moderate to good yields of symmetrical xanthones. The reaction was also examined with the combination of 2-hydroxy phenyl boronic acid as another coupling partner. Additionally, this protocol was extended for the synthesis of aryl and alkyl salicylate derivatives by varying the reaction conditions.