Palladium(II)‐Initiated Catellani‐Type Reactions

The Catellani reaction is known as a powerful strategy for the expeditious synthesis of highly substituted arenes and benzo‐fused rings, which are usually difficult to access through traditional cross‐coupling strategies. It utilizes the synergistic interplay of palladium and norbornene catalysis to facilitate sequential ortho C?H functionalization and ipso termination of aryl halides in a single operation. In classical Catellani‐type reactions, aryl halides are mainly used as the substrates, and a Pd⁰ catalyst is required to initiate the reaction. Nevertheless, recent advances showcase that Catellani‐type reactions can also be initiated by a Pd^II catalyst with different starting materials instead of aryl halides via different reaction mechanisms and under different conditions. This emerging concept of Pd^II/norbornene cooperative catalysis has significantly advanced Catellani‐type reactions, thus enabling future developments of this field. In this Minireview, Pd^II‐initiated Catellani‐type reactions and their application in the synthesis of bioactive molecules are summarized.