The Co(II)-Porphyrin-catalyzed Aerobic Oxidative Coupling of Phenols

Guo et al. have reported the Co(II)-porphyrin-catalyzed aerobic oxidative coupling of phenols. According to their results, the oxidative coupling of various phenols proceeds smoothly with O₂ by using [5,10,15,20-tetrakis(4-methoxyphenyl)porphyrinato]cobalt(II) as a catalyst producing the corresponding biaryl compounds in high yields. This reaction is carried out under mild conditions with operational simplicity. In addition, the obtained biaryl derivatives are important in the area of pharmaceuticals and as ligands in metal catalysis, etc. Thus, broad future applications of this method are expected.