Reagent Design and Ligand Evolution for the Development of a Mild Copper-Catalyzed Hydroxylation Reaction.

Parallel synthesis and mass-directed purification of a modular ligand library, high-throughput experimentation, and rational ligand evolution have led to a novel copper catalyst for the synthesis of phenols with a traceless hydroxide surrogate. The mild reaction conditions reported here enable the late-stage synthesis of numerous complex, druglike phenols.