Intramolecular cross-coupling of gem-dibromoolefins: a mild approach to 2-bromo benzofused heterocyclesThis article is part of a ChemComm ‘Catalysis in Organic Synthesis’ web-theme issue showcasing high quality research in organic chemistry. Please see our website (http://www.rsc.org/chemcomm/organic webtheme2009) to access the other papers in this issue.Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Experimental procedures and characterization data. See DOI: 10.1039/b912093a

Highly useful halogenated benzofurans and benzothiophenes are prepared from readily available gem-dibromoolefins using a mild, ligand-free copper catalyzed cross-coupling procedure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]