A new, efficient, and inexpensive copper(II)/salicylic acid complex catalyzed Sonogashira-type cross-coupling of haloarenes and iodoheteroarenes with terminal alkynes

A new, efficient, and inexpensive CuCl2/salicylic acid catalytic system has been developed to catalyze Sonogashira-type cross-coupling of haloarenes and iodoheteroarenes with terminal alkynes under mild reaction conditions to afford the corresponding coupling products in 18–95% yields. The role of salicylic acid might act as a bidentate O,O-donor ligand to activate the catalytic reactivity of copper chloride in coupling reactions was also briefly discussed.