DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I, claims 1-12, in the reply filed on Jun. 22, 2026 is acknowledged.
Applicant’s further election without traverse of species of formula (2), as presently recited in claims 2-3, in the reply filed on Jun. 22, 2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 4-6 and 13-22 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to nonelected inventions, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on Jun. 22, 2026.
Claims 1-3 and 7-12 are presently under consideration.
Priority
The claim of benefit of provisional application 63/343,341 is acknowledged. The disclosure of the prior-filed provisional application 63/343,341 does not include the presently recited genus of compounds according to chemical formula (1) and its moieties Ar, R1-R3, and L1-L2.
The effective filing date of the present claims is May 18, 2023.
Claim Rejections – 35 U.S.C. § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. § 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-3 and 7-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2021, 60(45), 24107-24115 (herein “Liu”). Liu was published online on Oct. 25, 2021. As set forth above, the effective filing date of the present claims is May 18, 2023.
As to claims 1-3 and 7: Liu describes a catalyst (see formulas 1 and 2 in Scheme 1 on p. 24108) that is according to the presently chemical formula (1) in which R1-R3 are methyl, Ar is 3,5-dimethylphenyl or 4-methylphenyl, and L1 and L2 are methyl and chloro.
As to claims 8-10: The cited catalysts include the metal palladium(II).
As to claims 11-12: Liu further discloses the use of the catalyst in combination with NaBArF (see Table 1 on p. 24109).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RICHARD A. HUHN whose telephone number is (571)270-7345. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday, 9 AM to 6 PM EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Arrie (Lanee) Reuther can be reached at (571) 270-7026. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/RICHARD A. HUHN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1764
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