Palladium (II)–phosphine complexes, especially PdCl 2 (dppf) where dppf stands for 1, 1′- bis (diphenylphosphino) ferrocene, are effective catalysts for the cross-coupling of Grignard reagents with dichlorobenzenes to produce selectively mono-alkylated and arylated benzenes. The addition of ligands is also effective for the cross-coupling of Grignard reagents containing a β-hydrogen (s).