We herein report a Pd(0)-catalyzed Catellani-type reaction of aryl iodides, O-acylhydroxylamine, and norbornadiene (NBD), where NBD acts as an o-tolyl synthon to efficiently afford aminobiphenyl derivatives. The key to this transformation is a rare β2-carbon elimination of the norbornyl Pd(II) intermediate rather than the classic β1-carbon elimination, making this the first example of NBD as an aromatic synthon in a Catellani-type reaction.
Liu et al. (Thu,) studied this question.