Synthesis of Aryl Ketones using Palladium(II) Catalyst

Larhed et al. have reported the synthesis of ketones from ortho-substituted aromatic acids and nitriles. According to their results, the coupling reaction proceeds in the presence of bipyridine ligands and palladium(II) trifluoroacetate as a catalyst to afford the desired aromatic ketones in moderate to excellent yields. Further applications using this methodology can be expected as a new convenient synthetic method for aromatic ketones.