Palladium-catalyzed regioselective homocoupling of arenes using anodic oxidation: Formal electrolysis of aromatic carbon-hydrogen bonds

Palladium-catalyzed regioselective homocoupling of arylpyridines under anodic oxidation conditions was achieved in the presence of I₂. The dimerization of meta-substituted arylpyridines proceeded selectively at less-sterically congested ortho-positions, and the selectivity is different from that reported for the palladium-catalyzed dimerization using Oxone as an oxidant. The dimerization also proceeds using catalytic amounts of both Pd(OAc)₂ and I₂ under the electrochemical reaction conditions.