Palladium-Catalyzed Synthesis of Heteroarene-Fused Cyclooctatetraenes through Dehydrogenative Cyclodimerization

Arene-fused cyclooctatetraenes (COTs) possess unique structural and electronic properties that originate from their saddle-shaped π-conjugated architectures. Considerable attention has been paid to the transition-metal-mediated synthesis of these cyclic compounds; however, there have been limited achievements to date in the efficient construction of heteroarene-fused COTs. In this contribution, we report a novel Pd-catalyzed dehydrogenative cyclodimerization of biheteroarenes through four-fold C-H activation toward the synthesis of a series of heteroarene-fused COTs. A set of mechanistic investigations indicated the involvement of high-valent Pd species prior to the dimerization event in the catalytic cycle. The redox behavior of the obtained COTs is also described briefly.