Palladium-Catalyzed Remote <i>meta</i>-Selective C–H Bond Silylation and Germanylation

Selective <i>meta</i>-C–H activation of arenes to date has met with a limited number of functionalizations. Expanding the horizon of <i>meta</i>-C–H functionalization, herein we disclose an unprecedented <i>meta</i>-silylation and -germanylation protocol by employing a simple nitrile-based directing template. Longer linkers between the target site and the directing template were successfully explored for <i>meta</i>-silylation (sp²-ε and sp²-ζ). Additionally, synthetic utility was demonstrated with several postsynthetic elaborations and with a formal synthesis of TAC101, a promising drug for the treatment of lung cancer