Palladium-catalyzed annulative π-extension of <i>o</i>-halobiphenyls with <i>o</i>-chloropyridinecarboxylic acids to access azatriphenylenes.

A palladium-catalyzed bay-region annulative π-extension reaction of <i>o</i>-halobiphenyls with <i>o</i>-chloropyridinecarboxylic acids was developed. The reaction was carried out with a 1 : 1 ratio of substrates. A variety of azatriphenylene derivatives could be synthesized by this approach. This transformation could be applied to the synthesis of ionic liquid-crystalline molecules.