Shuichi Yanagisawa and Kenichiro Itami

Tetrahedron, 2011, Article in press. DOI: 10.1016/j.tet.2011.03.093

A Pd/bipy-based catalytic system for the C-H bond arylation of heteroarenes with haloarenes is described. The complex PdBr2(bipy)·DMSO, whose structure was unambiguously determined by X- ray crystallography, turned out to be a general catalyst precursor for the process. The reaction is applicable to a range of electron-rich five-membered heteroarenes such as thiophenes, thiazoles, benzofurans, and indoles.