Palladium-catalyzed α-arylation of arylketones at low catalyst loadings.

A general catalytic protocol for the α-arylation of aryl ketones has been developed. It involves the use of a preformed, bench-stable Pd-N-heterocyclic carbene pre-catalyst bearing IHept as an ancillary ligand, and allows the coupling of various functionalized coupling partners at very low catalyst loading. Careful choice of the solvent/base system was crucial to obtain optimum catalyst performance. The pre-catalyst was also successfully tested in the synthesis of an industrially relevant compound.