Structural Distortion and Arene π-Coordination Dual-Assisted Palladium-Catalyzed Annulation Reaction of Aromatic Carboxylic Acids with 2,2′-Diiodobiphenyls

A palladium-catalyzed annulation reaction of aromatic carboxylic acids with 2,2′-diiodobiphenyls has been developed. Both structural distortion and arene π-coordination facilitate the oxidative addition of 2,2′-diiodobiphenyls to C,O-palladacycles, thereby enabling the annulation reaction. This method provides efficient access to various polycyclic aromatic compounds. Studies reveal that the obtained product, 2,3,6,7,11,12,15,16-octakis(hexyloxy)diphenanthro[9,10-b:9′,10′-d]thiophene, exhibits good liquid-crystalline properties.