Palladium catalyzed arylation of the inert β-C(sp2)-H bond of carboxylic acid derivatives is reported herein for the first time utilizing 8-aminoimidazo[1,2-a]pyridine (AIP) as an efficacious and new inbuilt 6,5-fused bicyclic removable directing group. This protocol is scalable, exhibits high levels of β-site selectivity and tolerates a broad spectrum of functional groups.