Various aryl seleno/thiocyanates have been synthesized via the electrochemical deborylative seleno/thiocyanation of arylboronic acids under ambient conditions.

Simple strategies for decarboxylative functionalizations of electron-deficient benzoic acids via using Cu(I) as promoter and electron-rich ones by employing Pd(II) as catalyst under aerobic conditions have been established, which lead to smooth synthesis of aryl halides (-I, Br, and Cl) through the decarboxylative functionalization of benzoic acids with readily available halogen sources CuX (X = I, Br, Cl), and easy preparation of benzonitriles from decarboxylative cyanation of aryl carboxylic acids with nontoxic and low-cost K4Fe(CN)6 under an oxygen atmosphere for the first time.

A highly regioselective Pd-catalyzed carboxyl directed decarboxylative ortho-C–H halogenation of cheap o-nitrobenzoic acids with NaX (X = I, Br) under aerobic conditions has been established. The utility of the method has been demonstrated by the gram-scale reaction and derivatization of the product. Experimental results have confirmed Pd and Bi played critical roles in the transformation and indicated the transformation might proceed via 2-halo-6-nitrobenzoic acid derivative intermediate.

Pd-catalyzed decarboxylative Heck coupling of aromatic carboxylic acids with various olefins is developed using O(2) as the terminal oxidant. Enhancement of O(2) pressure leads to improving reaction turnover in this transformation and allows significantly reducing catalyst loading for efficient conversion of electron-rich benzoic acids. A Pd catalyst supported by a carbene ligand enables using electron-deficient benzoic acids as coupling partners.