New ligands that promote cross-coupling reactions between aryl halides and unactivated arenes.

Several ligands were designed to promote transition-metal-free cross-coupling reactions of aryl halides with benzene derivatives. Among the systems probed, quinoline-1-amino-2-carboxylic acid was found to serve as an excellent catalyst for cross-coupling between aryl halides and unactivated benzene. Reactions using this inexpensive catalytic system displayed a high functional group tolerance as well as excellent chemoselectivities.