Copper(I) phenoxide complexes in the etherification of aryl halides.

Abstract

Copper-catalyzed Ullmann ether synthesis has been studied for many years because aryl ethers comprise important classes of medicinally active compounds and agrochemicals.[1,2] The traditional Ullmann-type reactions required high temperatures, use of polar and high-boiling solvents, and stoichiometric quantities of the copper salt. Recently, by combining the copper with a variety of different ligands, milder catalytic Ullmann reactions have been developed [Eq. (1)]. Examples