Palladium-Catalyzed syn-Stereocontrolled Ring-Opening of Oxabicyclic Alkenes with Sodium Arylsulfinates

Palladium-catalyzed syn-stereocontrolled ring opening reactions of oxabenzonorbornadienes with a wide range of sodium arylsulfinates were investigated, affording the desired products in good to excellent yields under an air atmosphere. This protocol provides a low-cost new viable and convenient method toward the synthesis of cis-2-aryl-1,2-dihydronaphthalen-1-ol with good functional group tolerance. In addition, the cis configuration of 3da was established by X-ray diffraction analysis, and a plausible mechanism, for the ring opening reaction was proposed.