Palladium-copper catalyzed decarboxylation/de-cycloalkanonylative coupling reaction to synthesize 9,9-diaryl-xanthenes

An efficient palladium-copper catalyzed regioselective C-C bond cleavage/C-H bond activation/C-C bond reformation reaction to synthesize 9,9-diaryl-xanthenes has been developed. A variety of 9,9-diaryl-xanthenes were synthesized in moderate to good yields by 9H-xanthene-9-carboxylic acid/2-(9H-xanthen-9-yl)-cycloketones and aromatics bearing electron-donating functional groups through the decarboxylation/de-cycloalkanonylative coupling reactions.