A highly efficient Pd-catalyzed arylative ring expansion of cyclobutanols via C-C bond cleavage is presented. The method allows the coupling of aryl chlorides at low catalyst loadings with a wide range of functional groups and substitution patterns, thus constituting a straightforward alternative for preparing rather elusive γ-arylated ketones.
![Ligand-accelerated Pd-catalyzed ketone ?-arylation via C-C cleavage with aryl chlorides](https://www.iciq.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Ligand-accelerated_1266.gif)