Annulative ??-Extension of Unactivated Benzene Derivatives through Nondirected C???H Arylation

Annulative ??-extension chemistry provides a concise synthetic route to polycyclic arenes. Herein, we disclose a nondirected annulation approach of unactivated simple arenes. The palladium-catalyzed 2-fold C???H arylation event facilitates tandem C???C linkage relays to furnish fully benzenoid triphenylene frameworks using cyclic diaryliodonium salts. The inseparable regioisomeric mixture of 1- and 2-methyltriphenylenes is identified by the combined analysis of ion mobility-mass spectrometry, gas-phase infrared spectroscopy, and molecular simulation studies