A new protocol for the one-pot synthesis of symmetrical biaryls

Biaryls play an important role in modern organic chemistry. Although a large number of protocols for the synthesis of symmetrical and unsymmetrical biaryls already exist, most of them are not generally applicable. In our studies toward the total synthesis of the secalonic acids, we were interested in bis(pinacolato)diboron as a reagent for transforming haloarenes into arylboronic esters. By optimizing the reaction conditions, we were able to obtain biaryls containing various functional groups in good to excellent yields.