Catalytic Direct C2-Alkenylation of Oxazoles at Parts per Million Levels of Palladium/PhMezole-Phos Complex

General direct C2-alkenylation of oxazoles is reported using alkenyl tosylates at parts per million levels of palladium catalyst. From a series of ligands screened, PhMezole-Phos emerged as the promising ligand candidate to facilitate this reaction. Significantly, the method is scalable and exhibits excellent substrate tolerance. Highly sterically hindered substrates and small vinyl tosylate can be coupled successfully. Moreover, our method enables a rapid diversification of oxazole-based C^N ligands which can be readily derived into new group 9 organometallic compounds. © 2016 American Chemical Society.