Synthesis of isoflavones by room-temperature nickel-catalyzed cross-couplings of 3-iodo(bromo)chromones with arylzincs

A new concise, facile method for synthesis of isoflavones was accomplished in moderate to good yields for 3-iodochromones or 3-bromochromones and arylzinc bromides via Negishi cross-coupling reaction catalyzed by NiCl2/PPh3\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$\hbox {NiCl}_{2}/\hbox {PPh}_{3}$$\end{document} or NiCl2(PPh3)2\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$\hbox {NiCl}_{2}(\hbox {PPh}_{3})_{2}$$\end{document} at room temperature. The Isoflavone core was synthesized in four steps in good yield, starting from commercially available 2-hydroxyacetophenone and aromatic bromide. Three steps of the procedure were carried out at room temperature.