Herein, we report the palladium-catalyzed carbonylative synthesis of symmetrical xanthones
from functionalized 2-iodophenols in a one-pot manner. The protocol involves homocoupling
of 2-iodophenols using Pd catalyst, Cs2CO3 as base, with gaseous CO as C1 building block. The simple, ligand- and additive-free
strategy provides moderate to good yields of symmetrical xanthones. The reaction was
also examined with the combination of 2-hydroxyphenyl boronic acid as another coupling
partner. Additionally, this protocol was extended for the synthesis of aryl and alkyl
salicylate derivatives by varying the reaction conditions.
Key words
carbonylation - homocoupling - palladium - xanthones - 2-iodophenols