Cross coupling of non-activated alkyl halides by a nickel pincer complex.
Non-activated alkyl halides are challenging substrates for cross-coupling reactions because they are reluctant to undergo oxidative addition and because metal alkyl intermediates are prone to beta-H elimination. Despite recent progress, well-defined catalysts are rare. We recently prepared Ni complexes with a chelating pincer-type bis(amino)amide ligand. The chloride complex [((Me)NN2)NiCl] is an active (pre)catalyst for the coupling of non-activated alkyl halides with alkyl, aryl, and heteroaryl Grignard reagents. The catalysis tolerates a wide range of functional groups such as keto, ester, amide, acetal, indole, furan, nitrile, etc. The Ni complex also catalyzes direct alkylation of alkynes and aromatic heterocycles.
Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Institute of Chemical Sciences and Engineering, EPFL-ISIC-LSCI, CH-1015 Lausanne. xile.hu@epfl.ch
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