In order to assess relative contribution of steric factors and electron-richness of phosphine ligands on biaryl-type scaffolds, a set of 1-aryl-pyrazole/pyrrole derived ligands L1-L6 featuring either aryldicyclohexylphosphino or aryldiphenylphosphino donor group was synthesized. A bidentate coordination mode of ligands L1 or L2 was evident from a representative crystal structure that implied a possible hemilabile participation to facilitate catalytic steps. With N-arylpyrroles (L3-L5), where the second nitrogen donor on the heterocycle is absent, coupling reactions of unactivated chloroarenes still proceeded with comparable efficiency. Thus, suitably endowed triarylphosphines were found to be as efficient as more expensive aryldialkylphosphine analogs in reactions with chloroarenes, extending the scope of ligand design. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.