Oxidative coupling of benzoic acids with alkynes: Catalyst design and selectivity

Abstract The review covers the mechanism insights and recent achievements in catalyst design for oxidative coupling of benzoic acids and alkynes. This reaction is a straightforward effective approach to synthesis of isocoumarins or naphthalenes. The influence of catalyst nature and reaction conditions on the selectivity is also discussed. This contribution aims to focus attention of organic chemists on the possibility to use a wide range of catalysts, without being limited by only conventional complexes.