title: Rhodium(I)-catalyzed regiospecific dimerization of aromatic acids: two direct C-H bond activations in water.
abstract: 2,2'-Diaryl acids are key building blocks for some of the most important and high-performance polymers such as polyesters and polyamides (imides), as well as structural motifs of MOFs (metal-organic frameworks) and biological compounds. In this study, a direct, regiospecific and practical dimerization of simple aromatic acids to generate 2,2'-diaryl acids has been discovered, which proceeds through two rhodium-catalyzed C-H activations in water. This reaction can be easily scaled up to gram level by using only 0.4-0.6 mol % of the rhodium catalyst. As a proof-of-concept, the natural product ellagic acid was synthesized in two steps by this method.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and FQRNT Centre for Green Chemistry and Catalysis, McGill University, 801 Sherbrooke St. W., Montreal, Quebec H3A 0B8 (Canada); The Key Laboratory of Environmentally Friendly Chemistry and Application of the Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry, Xiangtan University, Xiangtan 411105 (China).
authors.forename: Hang
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Gong
authors.forename: Huiying
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Chao-Jun
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Li
keywords: CH activation; cross-coupling; rhodium; synthetic methods; water chemistry