Ligand-Promoted Palladium-Catalyzed C−H Acetoxylation of Simple Arenes

The palladium‐catalyzed C−H oxidation of simple arenes is an attractive strategy to obtain phenols, which have many applications in the fine chemicals industry. Although some advances have been made in this research area, low reactivity and selectivity are, in general, observed. This report describes a new catalytic system for the efficient C−H acetoxylation of simple arenes based on Pd(OAc)2 and a pyridinecarboxylic acid ligand. Fast and selective: A catalytic system based on a bidentate picolinic acid ligand and Pd(OAc)2, capable of increasing the reactivity and site selectivity of the C−H acetoxylation of simple arenes, is reported.