A Diverted Aerobic Heck Reaction Enables Selective 1,3-Diene and 1,3,5-Triene Synthesis through C–C Bond Scission

Substituted 1,3-dienes are valuable synthetic intermediates used in myriad catalytic transformations, yet modern catalytic methods for their preparation in a highly modular fashion using simple precursors are relatively few. We report here an aerobic boron Heck reaction with cyclobutene that forms exclusively linear 1-aryl-1,3-dienes using (hetero)­arylboronic acids, or 1,3,5-trienes using alkenylboronic acids, rather than typical Heck products (i.e., substituted cyclobutenes). Experimental and computational mechanistic data support a pericyclic mechanism for C–C bond cleavage that enables the cycloalkene to circumvent established limitations associated with diene reagents in Heck-type reactions.