A Complex Catalytic Cycle Leading to a Regioselective Synthesis of o,o′‐Disubstituted Vinylarenes

Palladium(0), (II), and (IV) complexes are intermediates in the unusual palladium catalyzed synthesis of 2,6-dialkyl-substituted vinylarenes. Since these complexes discriminate between alkyl and aryl iodides and between strained and terminal olefins at certain stages of the process, this provides both a highly chemoselective and a regioselective access to 1,2,3-trisubstituted arenes (see, for example, Eq. (a)).