Metal- and light-free C–C coupling of aryl halides with quinoxalinones and related N-heterocycles under molecular iodine promotion

A metal- and light-free strategy for C–C cross-coupling of aryl halides with quinoxalinones and related N-heterocycles is developed using molecular iodine (I 2 ). The NH 2 (or OH) group in the aryl halide substrate plays an important role in the present transformation. This synthetic protocol is operationally simple, scalable to the gram scale, and requires no base. The reaction performs reliably with crude aryl halides, obviating the need to purify corresponding halogenated intermediates and enabling direct synthesis of coupling products from simple aromatic compounds. A metal-, light-, and base-free strategy for C–C cross-coupling of aryl halides with quinoxalinones and related N-heterocycles is developed using molecular iodine (I 2 ). The strategy is notable for its operational simplicity, broad substrate scope, and scalability to gram quantities.