Shuichi Yanagisawa and Kenichiro Itami ChemCatChem 2011, Early View,. DOI: 10.1002/cctc.201000431
Recently, several research groups have reported that the C–H bond arylation of aromatic compounds with haloarenes can be promoted by potassium or sodium tert-butoxide, without the addition of any exogenous transition metal species. These serendipitous discoveries are highlighted and summarized.