Palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions of benzyl indium reagents with aryl iodides.

Herein described is an operationally simple procedure for generating benzyl indium species from readily available benzyl bromides and indium metal followed by in situ palladium-catalyzed coupling with aryl halides. The procedure provides diarylmethanes in modest to excellent yield and tolerates a variety of functional groups in both coupling partners.