Cobalt-catalyzed Cross-coupling Reaction of Chloropyridines with Grignard Reagents

Treatment of 2-chloropyridine with benzylmagnesium chloride in the presence of a catalytic amount of cobalt(II) acetylacetonate in dioxane afforded the corresponding cross-coupling product in excellent yield. Trimethylsilylmethyl and phenyl Grignard reagents also participated in similar cross-coupling reactions.