A one-pot process for palladium catalyzed direct C-H acylation of anilines in water using a removable ortho directing group ,Fruzsina Szabó, Dániel Simkó, Zoltán Novák, RSC Advances 2014, 4, 3883-3886. DOI: 10.1039/C3RA45160G | [Supp. Info Link]

A new mild, practical method for the synthesis of aminobenzophenone derivatives through a three step one-pot reaction sequence involving acylation of anilines, palladium catalyzed cross-dehydrogenative coupling of the formed anilides and the hydrolytic cleavage is reported. The full reaction sequence was performed under aqueous conditions.