Palladium-Catalyzed Copper-Free Sonogashira Coupling of 2-Bromoarylcarbonyls: Synthesis of Isobenzofurans via One-Pot Reductive Cyclization

Palladium-catalyzed copper-free Sonogashira coupling of 2-bromocarbonyls is presented. This method afforded the 2-alkynylaryl carbonyls, useful synthons for the accomplishment of many carbocyclic and heterocyclic motifs. Significantly, the strategy was extended to the one-pot synthesis of isobenzofurans via reduction followed by intramolecular 5-exo-dig cyclization.