Cr-Catalyzed Intramolecular Arylative Cross-Coupling of Unactivated C–H Bonds with C–Halide Bonds

We report here a chromium-catalyzed intramolecular arylation of unactivated C–H bonds with C–halide bonds under mild conditions. This reaction was enabled by using a low-cost CrCl2 salt as the precatalyst in combination with allylmagnesium bromide and E/Z-mixed 1-halo-2-styrylarenes as substates, providing a strategy for the construction of functionalized phenanthrene compounds without using external ligands.