Iron-catalyzed oxidative cross-coupling of phenols and alkenes.

A novel bioinspired iron-catalyzed oxidative cross-coupling reaction between phenols and conjugated alkenes was developed. This method enables the direct coupling of phenols with styrene, α-alkyl- and α-arylstyrenes, β-alkyl styrenes, and stilbenes, thereby providing a new strategy for the preparation of the pharmacologically important 2,3-dihydrobenzofuran motif. In addition, this study revealed that under a different set of conditions an oxidative/addition dearomatization reaction of 1,1'-bi-2-naphthol (BINOL) with styrene can take place.