o-Diiodobenzene/NaH Benzyne System Enables the Synthesis of Alkyl Aryl Ethers and Diaryl Ethers

We present here the application of o-diiodobenzene/NaH as an efficient benzyne system in reactions with various alcohols and phenols for the synthesis of alkyl aryl ethers and diaryl ethers. Compared to existing protocols for constructing aryl ethers, our new approach not only employs inexpensive and readily available starting materials with simple operation but also enables the preparation of sterically hindered tert-butyl aryl ethers and polyhalogenated diaryl ethers, which pose significant challenges to conventional methods. Additionally, the products retain an ortho-iodine substituent, facilitating further functionalization to access more complex molecular architectures.