Nickel-Catalyzed Direct Arylation by C–H/C–O Cleavage with Phenol

Abstract A facile and selective synthesis method for 2-phenylpyridine derivatives was proposed through C–H bond arylation. Readily available phenols can be employed as proelectrophiles in direct arylations, inexpensive Ni(acac)2 as the catalyst, and moderate to excellent yields were achieved for the coupling reactions. This protocol is simple, efficient, and applicable to various substituted 2-phenylpyridine derivatives.