Oxygen-Promoted Suzuki-Miyaura Reaction for Efficient Construction of Biaryls

As one of the most powerful and versatile methods for the construction of carbon-carbon bonds, the Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling reaction has attracted great attention over the past three decades. In recent years, a huge amount of interest has been focused on the development of ligand-free Suzuki-Miyaura reaction systems, which have the advantages of low cost, mild reaction conditions, and easy operation. So far, a number of ligand-free Suzuki-Miyaura reaction systems have been developed by using simple palladium salts, nanopalladium, or supported palladium catalysts. In this account, we will review our recent research on the oxygen-promoted ligand-free Suzuki-Miyaura reaction. Interestingly, the oxygen-promoting effect has been observed in different reaction media, including polyethylene glycol, organic/water mixed solvents and pure water. The oxygen-promoted reaction systems demonstrate high efficiency for the construction of biaryls.