Palladium-catalyzed site-selective arylation of symmetric dichlorobenzaldehyde to non-symmetric diaryl benzaldehyde via Suzuki coupling

Arylation of 2,6-dichlorobenzaldehyde by aryl boronic acids via site-selective Suzuki coupling catalyzed by PdCl2 supported on 4 Å molecular sieves produces 2-aryl-6-chlorobenzaldehyde which on subsequent coupling with a different aryl boronic acid in the presence of Pd(OAc)2–NHC ligand leads to non-symmetric diaryl benzaldehyde in good overall yield.