Iron(ii) triflate/N-heterocyclic carbene-catalysed cross-coupling of arylmagnesiums with aryl chlorides and tosylates

In comparison to iron(ii) halides, iron(ii) triflate exhibits a greater resistance towards reduction by p-tolylmagnesium bromide. This knowledge has led to the development of an iron(ii) triflate/N-heterocyclic carbene-catalysed cross-coupling system of aryl Grignard reagents with aryl chlorides and tosylates with high efficiency, even surpassing that of previously reported catalyst systems employing strongly coordinating counterions in some cases.