Weakly coordinating ketone-directed ortho-C-H olefination of biaryl ketones under microwave-assisted palladium catalysis.

Selective C-H functionalization directed by weakly coordinating groups remains a challenging yet valuable strategy in organic synthesis. In this study, biaryl ketones underwent microwave-assisted palladium-catalyzed ortho-C-H olefination, with the ketone group serving as the directing group. The transformation proceeded across a range of substrates and olefin partners, delivering the coupled products in moderate to good yields with high regioselectivity and broad functional-group tolerance. Notably, the strategy is amenable to generating drug-derived molecules, and post-synthetic transformations were also explored.