Catalytic conjunctive cross-coupling enabled by metal-induced metallate rearrangement

A two-for-one twist on Suzuki coupling The Suzuki-Miyaura coupling reaction is one of the most widely used ways of making carbon-carbon bonds. Essentially a palladium catalyst activates one carbon fragment and then links it to a second fragment pulled from boron. Zhang et al. now demonstrate a twist on the conventional pathway (see the Perspective by Fyfe and Watson). In their system, the palladium initially coaxes together two carbon fragments on one boron center. Then the catalyst stitches a second C-C bond to a third, external fragment. A chiral ligand renders the reaction highly enantio-selective. Science , this issue p. 70 ; see also p. 26