Palladium-catalyzed deacetonative coupling of aryl propargylic alcohols with aryl chlorides in water

A highly efficient and green process for palladium-catalyzed deacetonative coupling of aryl propargylic alcohols with aryl chlorides has been developed. The reaction occurs smoothly in neat water with 2mol% PdCl2 as catalyst, and various synthetically useful functional groups, including ether, aldehyde, ketone, and heterocyclics, are well tolerated. Moreover, the reaction could proceed through a consecutive Sonogashira/deacetonative process using 2-methyl-3-butyn-2-ol and aryl chlorides as coupling partners, affording the symmetric alkynes in good yields.