Abstract An efficient one-pot procedure is described for the reduction of aryl iodides to aryl anions using a structurally simple bis-pyridinylidene electron donor, prepared in situ by treating 4-DMAP methiodide salt with base. The results show (i) that pyridinylidene carbenes can be easily used for intermolecular CC bond formation,(ii) that bis-pyridinylidenes demonstrate superior robustness compared to electron-donor systems based on bis- ...
