An application of the PIFA-mediated [PIFA: phenyliodine(III) bis(trifluoroacetate)] biarylcoupling reaction is presented and extended to the formation of heterobiaryl connections. A preliminary study of the scope and limitations of this procedure was carried out in the synthesis of phenanthroids 11 from a series of phenethyl-substituted heterocycles 10. It was observed that in some cases a competitive