Palladium-catalyzed C-H homocoupling of thiophenes: facile construction of bithiophene structure.

Palladium-catalyzed C-H homocoupling of thiophene derivatives takes place in the presence of silver(I) fluoride or acetate. A variety of bithiophenes are obtained in good to excellent yields. In particular, the reaction of 2-bromothiophene proceeds at room temperature to afford 5,5'-dibromo-2,2'-bithiophene, where the bromine atom is completely intact in the palladium-catalyzed reaction. XRD analysis reveals that silver fluoride is reduced to silver(0) during the reaction.