An approach to synthesize 2,3-diaryl benzo[b]furans using coumarins and aryl bromides is developed. This state-of-the-art strategy capitalizes on a palladium-catalyzed one-pot decarbonylative diarylation of coumarins, paving the way to achieve biologically interesting 2,3-diaryl benzo[b]furans.
![Graphical abstract: A one-pot domino C–H, C–C activation in coumarins: a fast track to 2,3-diaryl benzo[b]furans](http://hg.y866.cn/compound/lib/scimg/usr/1/C5CC01427A.jpg)