Employing Water as the Hydride Source in Synthesis: A Case Study of Diboron Mediated Alkyne Hydroarylation.

We present an approach to utilize water as the hydride source via Pd(II)/Pd(0) catalysis. As a case study, we have achieved a diboron mediated Pd(II)-catalyzed hydroarylation of alkynes using arylboronic acids. This approach not only complements conventional reactivity of Pd via Pd(0)/Pd(II) cycle for the hydroarylation but also utilizes water as the hydride source. We believe this would particularly be beneficial in utilizing water as a reagent.