Room-temperature direct alkynylation of arenes with copper acetylides.

C-H bond in azoles and polyhalogenated arenes can be smoothly activated by copper acetylides to give the corresponding alkynylated (hetero)arenes by simple reaction at room temperature in the presence of phenanthroline and lithium tert-butoxide under an oxygen atmosphere. These stable, unreactive, and readily available polymers act as especially efficient and practical reagents for the introduction of an alkyne group to a wide number of arenes under remarkably mild conditions.