Water as a green solvent for efficient synthesis of isocoumarins through microwave-accelerated and Rh/Cu-catalyzed C–H/O–H bond functionalization

Green chemistry that uses water as a solvent has recently received great attention in organic synthesis. Here we report an efficient synthesis of biologically important isocoumarins through direct cleavage of C–H/O–H bonds by microwave-accelerated and Rh/Cu-catalyzed oxidative annulation of various substituted benzoic acids, where water is used as the only solvent in the reactions. The remarkable features of this “green” methodology include high product yields, wide tolerance of various functional groups as substrates, and excellent region-/site-specificities, thus rendering this methodology a highly versatile and eco-friendly alternative to the existing methods for synthesizing isocoumarins and other biologically important derivatives such as isoquinolones.