Palladacycle-catalyzed phosphonation of aryl halides in neat water.

An efficient and generally applicable protocol for the palladacycle-catalyzed arylation of diisopropyl H-phosphonate in water was developed. The remarkable features of this C–P bond-forming reaction include wide substrate scope including the inactive electron-rich and electron-neutral aryl chlorides, the weak inorganic base KF instead of strong bases such as KOtBu or NaOtBu for the activation of C–Cl bond, and the addition of isopropanol to avoid the decomposition of diisopropyl H-phosphonate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]