Palladium‐Catalyzed Decarboxylative Coupling of α‐ Oxocarboxylic Acids with C(sp2)H of 2‐Aryloxypyridines

Abstract An efficient palladium‐catalyzed decarboxylative ortho ‐acylation of 2‐aryloxypyridines with α‐oxocarboxylic acids is described. In this new transformation, the aromatic C( sp 2 )H bond was successfully acylated to give diverse aromatic ketones regioselectively in moderate to good yields. The pyridine group can be removed easily after the acylation to give the corresponding 2‐hydroxy aromatic ketones.