Palladium-Catalyzed Cascade Dearomative Spirocyclization and C-H Annulation of Aromatic Halides with Alkynes.

Described herein is a palladium-catalyzed intermolecular dearomative annulation of aryl halides with alkynes, which provides a rapid approach to a class of structurally unique spiroembedded polycyclic aromatic compounds. The cascade process is accomplished by a sequential alkyne migratory insertion, Heck-type dearomatization, and C-H bond annulation. Further optoelectronic study indicated this fused spirocyclic scaffold could be a potential host material for OLEDs, as exemplified by a fabricated red PhOLED device with a maximum external quantum efficiency of 23.0%.