Rapid synthesis of an electron-deficient t-BuPHOX ligand: cross-coupling of aryl bromides with secondary phosphine oxides

Herein an efficient and direct copper-catalyzed coupling of oxazoline-containing aryl bromides with electron-deficient secondary phosphine oxides is reported. The resulting tertiary phosphine oxides can be reduced to prepare a range of PHOX ligands. The presented strategy is a useful alternative to known methods for constructing PHOX derivatives.