Palladium-catalyzed dehydrative heck olefination of secondary aryl alcohols in ionic liquids: towards a waste-free strategy for tandem synthesis of stilbenoids.

All in one: a tandem strategy has been developed wherein secondary aryl alcohols are directly coupled with aryl halides to provide stilbenoids through a dehydrative Heck sequence in the ionic liquid [hmim]Br, and with water as a by-product under microwave irradiation. Classical methods do not permit this sequence to proceed in one pot, and some methods require multiple steps. hmim=1-n-hexyl-3-methylimidazolium.