“Dehydrogenative Synthesis of 2,2′-Bipyridyls through Regioselective Pyridine Dimerization”
Shuya Yamada, Takeshi Kaneda, Philip Steib, Kei Murakami,* Kenichiro Itami*
Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. 2019, 58, 8341–8345.DOI:10.1002/anie.201814701.

The palladium-catalyzed dehydrogenative dimerization of pyridines is described. The dimerization reaction takes place smoothly to provide the corresponding 2,2′-bipyridyls with excellent C2-selectivity. The present protocol allows a concise synthesis of twisted 3,3′-disubstituted-2,2′-bipyridyls that is hitherto difficult to access with conventional methods.