Although a carbon–carbon bond formation using an alcohol as a coupling partner might be fascinating in organic chemistry, the system is much more difficult than that using other partners such as organic halides because of the poor leaving ability of the hydroxy group. The use of alcohols, which are plentiful and inexpensive compounds, can have advantages over the use of the corresponding organic halides, and the establishment of this reaction system has ...
[Trost, Barry M.; Tanoury, Gerald J.; Lautens, Mark; Chan, Chuen; MacPherson, David T. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 1994 , vol. 116, # 10 p. 4255 - 4267]