Pd-Catalyzed Heteroannular Arylation via Remote C-H Functionalization of Acylferrocene Oxime Ethers

Ferrocene derivatives are widely employed in fields such as organic synthesis, materials science, and medicinal chemistry. Significant advances have been achieved in the synthesis of 1,2- and 1,3-disubstituted ferrocene derivatives through palladium-catalyzed C-H arylation. In contrast, the preparation of 1,1'-disubstituted analogues via a comparable strategy remains highly challenging and has not been reported to date. Herein, we describe a palladium-catalyzed heteroannular C-H arylation that facilitates one-step assembly of 1,1'-disubstituted ferrocene derivatives. In contrast to previously reported remote C-H functionalization strategies, this method employs oxime ethers as directing groups and iodoarenes as arylating reagents under ligand-free conditions, while exhibiting excellent site selectivity.