Efficient oxidative biaryl coupling reaction of phenol ether derivatives using hypervalent iodine(III) reagents

Oxidative biaryl coupling reaction of phenol ether derivatives with the hypervalent iodine reagent, phenyliodine(III) bis(trifluoroacetate) (PIFA), in the presence of BF3·Et2O gave a variety of substituted biphenyl and binaphthyl compounds in high yields. Replacement of PIFA with a more practical polymer-supported hypervalent iodine reagent has also been achieved.