One-pot Procedure for the Synthesis of Unsymmetrical Diarylalkynes

Doye et al. have reported the one-pot synthesis of unsymmetrical diarylalkynes. According to their results, the three-component coupling is initialized by Sonogashira coupling of aryl halides with (trimethylsilyl)acetylene in the presence of a catalytic amount of bis(triphenylphosphine)palladium(II) dichloride. After subsequent desilylation of the formed aryl(trimethylsilyl)acetylenes with KOH, a second Sonogashira coupling with aryl iodides affords unsymmetrical diarylalkynes in moderate to good yields, without adding any additional Pd catalyst.