Palladium-Catalyzed Double C-H Functionalization of Arenes at the Positions ortho and meta to Their Directing Group: Concise Synthesis of Benzocyclobutenes.

The synthesis of benzocyclobutenes from simple arenes bearing a directing group was investigated via the palladium-catalyzed cyclization of norbornene derivatives. This approach allowed for the facile construction of benzocyclobutenes along with the double functionalization of the C-H bonds at the positions ortho and meta to the directing group. This result shows that the key palladacyclopentene intermediate in the Catellani reaction can be prepared by the directed double ortho C-H activation of the substrate. The results of this study also revealed that the combination of an N-protected amino acid with benzoquinone (BQ) was effective for this transformation.