Direct palladium-catalyzed desulfitative CC coupling of polyfluoroarenes with arylsulfinate salts: Water-accelerated reactions

A new approach to the synthesis of fluorinated biaryl compounds from easily available starting materials is described. This protocol is based on the direct palladium-catalyzed desulfitative cross-coupling of polyfluoroarenes with various arylsulfinate salts via CH bond activation, accelerated by trace amount of water. The method allows the synthesis of various fluorinated biaryl products in moderate to good yields, and tolerated a variety of functional groups, including alkyl, phenyl, methoxy, fluoro, and chloro groups.