Copper(II)-catalyzed ortho-acyloxylation of the 2-arylpyridines sp(2) C-H bonds with anhydrides, using O(2) as terminal oxidant.

A chelation-assisted copper(II)-catalyzed ortho-acyloxylation of the 2-arylpyridine sp(2) C-H bond with anhydride is described. The procedure tolerates various functional groups, such as carbomethoxyl, methoxyl, fluoro, bromo, chloro, and cyano groups, affording the mono- or diacyloxylated products in moderate to good yields. Importantly, this procedure uses O(2) as a clean terminal oxidant.