Aryl−Aryl Bond Formation by Transition-Metal-Catalyzed Direct Arylation

Dino Alberico was born in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, in 1976. He received his B.Sc. degree from McMaster University in 1999. In 2001 he received his M.Sc. degree from the University of Guelph under the supervision of Adrian L. Schwan, where he studied Diels−Alder reactions of α,β-unsaturated sulfinate esters. He then joined the research group of Mark Lautens at the University of Toronto and received his Ph.D. degree in 2005. His research focused on norbornene-mediated palladium-catalyzed annulation reactions. He is currently pursuing postdoctoral work at the Université de Montréal with André B. Charette.

Mark E. Scott was born in Simcoe, Ontario, Canada, in 1977. He received his bachelor degree (honors) in engineering chemistry at Queen's University in 2000. In 2002, he received his M.Sc.Eng. in chemical engineering from Queen's University under the supervision of Profs. Scott Parent and Ralph Whitney. He is currently a Ph.D. candidate in Mark Lautens' research group at the University of Toronto, where he is studying the Lewis acid-mediated ring expansion of methylenecyclopropanes. He has been the recipient of an NSERC Postgraduate (M.Sc.Eng.) Scholarship and an NSERC Postgraduate (Ph.D.) Scholarship. He will be pursuing his postdoctoral studies at Harvard University under the supervision of Prof. David A. Evans following the completion of his Ph.D.

Mark Lautens was born in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, on July 9, 1959. He obtained his undergraduate degree in chemistry at the University of Guelph, where he graduated with distinction in 1981. He attended the University of WisconsinMadison, where he was awarded a Ph.D. in 1985 under the supervision of Barry M. Trost while supported by an NSERC Postgraduate Scholarship. From 1985 to 1987 he was an NSERC Postdoctoral Fellow working in the laboratories of David A. Evans at Harvard University. In 1987 he was appointed as an Assistant Professor and University Research Fellow at the University of Toronto. In 1992 he was promoted to Associate Professor, and in 1995 he became Professor of Chemistry. Since 1998 he has held the AstraZeneca Chair in Organic Synthesis, and in 2003 he became an Industrial Research Chair supported by Merck Frosst and NSERC. He has received a number of awards including an Eli Lilly Granteeship, an A.P. Sloan Fellowship, and an E.W.R. Steacie Fellowship. He was awarded the Rutherford Medal in Chemistry from the Royal Society of Canada, the Alfred Bader Award, and the R.W. Lemieux Award from the Canadian Society for Chemistry. In 2001 he was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, and in 2006 he was selected as an A.C. Cope Scholar from the American Chemical Society. Throughout his career he has been interested in metal-catalyzed transformations that make carbon−carbon and carbon−heteroatom bonds as well as asymmetric catalysis. His work has appeared in nearly 200 publications, reviews, and book chapters. He edited Volume 1 of Science of Synthesis and is an Editor of Synthesis and Synfacts.