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Cross coupling

When is free really free?

An organocatalytic method for constructing biaryls joins an increasing number of articles reporting metal-free analogues to reactions that traditionally have required a transition-metal catalyst. What does it take to prove that metal is not involved, and does it really matter?

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Figure 1: Recently reported C–H cross-couplings raise the question of whether a metal catalyst is is always required for these useful reactions.

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Leadbeater, N. When is free really free?. Nature Chem 2, 1007–1009 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/nchem.913

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nchem.913

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