The Photocatalyzed Meerwein Arylation: Classic Reaction of Aryl Diazonium Salts in a New Light

The use of diazonium salts for aryl radical generation and C? H arylation processes has been known since 1896 when Pschorr first used the reaction for intramolecular cyclizations. Meerwein developed it further in the early 1900s into a general arylation method. However, this reaction could not compete with the transition‐metal‐mediated formation of C(sp²)? C(sp²) bonds. The replacement of the copper catalyst with iron and titanium compounds improved the situation, but the use of photocatalysis to induce the one‐electron reduction and activation of the diazonium salts is even more advantageous. The first photocatalyzed Pschorr cyclization was published in 1984, and just last year a series of papers described applications of photocatalytic Meerwein arylations leading to aryl–alkene coupling products. In this Minireview we summarize the origins of this reaction and its scope and applications.     

Comparison of Oxidative Aromatic Coupling and the Scholl Reaction

Does the dehydrogenative coupling of aromatic compounds mediated by AlCl₃ at high temperatures and also by FeCl₃, MoCl₅, PIFA, or K₃[Fe(CN)₆] at room temperature proceed by the same mechanism in all cases? With the growing importance of the synthesis of aromatic compounds by double C? H activation to give various biaryl structures, this question becomes pressing. Since some of these reactions proceed only in the presence of non‐oxidizing Lewis acids and some only in the presence of certain oxidants, the authors venture the hypothesis that, depending on the electronic structure of the substrates and the nature of the “catalyst”, two different mechanisms can operate. One involves the intermediacy of a radical cation and the other the formation of a sigma complex between the acid and the substrate. The goal of this Review is to encourage further mechanistic studies hopefully leading to an in‐depth understanding of this phenomenon.