Low catalyst loadings for copper-catalyzed o-arylation of phenols with aryl and heteroaryl halides under mild conditions

A practical and mild strategy has been developed for the cross-coupling of O-arylation of phenol with differently substituted aryl halides and heteroaryl iodides using low catalyst loading of copper iodide under low operating temperature in DMF with TMHD as the ligand and Cs2CO3 as the base. This method tolerates a variety of functional groups including sterically hindered phenols and heteroaryl iodides to afford products in good to excellent yields (up to 95%).