Diarylrhodates as Promising Active Catalysts for the Arylation of Vinyl Ethers with Grignard Reagents

Anionic diarylrhodium complexes, generated by reacting [RhCl(cod)]2 with 2 equiv of aryl Grignard reagents, were found to be effective active catalysts in cross-coupling reactions of vinyl ethers with aryl Grignard reagents, giving rise to the production of vinyl arenes. In this catalytic system, vinyl-O bonds were preferably cleaved over Ar-O or Ar-Br bonds. A lithium rhodate complex was isolated, and its crystal structure was determined by X-ray crystallography.