A new method for the decarboxylative coupling of alkyl N-hydroxyphthalimide esters (NHP esters) with aryl iodides is presented. In contrast to previous studies that form alkyl radicals from carboxylic acid derivatives, no photocatalyst, light, or arylmetal reagent is needed, only nickel and a reducing agent (Zn). Methyl, primary, and secondary alkyl groups can all be coupled in good yield (77% ave yield). One coupling with an acid chloride is also presented. Stoichiometric reactions of (dtbbpy)Ni(2-tolyl)I with an NHP ester show for the first time that arylnickel(II) complexes can directly react with NHP esters to form alkylated arenes.

A new method for the synthesis of terminal and internal alkynes from the nickel-catalyzed decarboxylative coupling of N-hydroxyphthalimide esters (NHP esters) and bromoalkynes is presented. This reductive cross-electrophile coupling is the first to use a C(sp)-X electrophile, and appears to proceed via an alkynylnickel intermediate. The internal alkyne products are obtained in 41–95% yield without the need for a photocatalyst, light, or strong oxidant. The reaction displays a broad scope of carboxylic acid and alkyne coupling partners and can tolerate an array of functional groups including a carbamate N-H, halogen, nitrile, olefin, ketone, and ester. Mechanistic studies suggest that this process does not involve an alkynylmanganese reagent and involves nickel-mediated bond formation.

The synthesis of highly substituted 1,3-dienes from the coupling of vinyl bromides with vinyl triflates is reported for the first time. The coupling is catalyzed by a combination of (5,5'-bis(trifluoromethyl)-2,2'-bipyridine)NiBr and (1,3-bis(diphenylphosphino)propane)PdCl in the presence of a zinc reductant. This method affords tetra- and penta-substituted 1,3-dienes that would otherwise be difficult to access and tolerates electron-rich and -poor substituents, heterocycles, an aryl bromide, and a pinacol boronate ester. Mechanistically, the reaction appears to proceed by an unusual zinc-mediated transfer of a vinyl group between the nickel and palladium centers.

We present a systematic study of the effect of the number of methyl (Me) and cyclohexyl (Cy) functional groups in monodentate phosphine ligands on the solution-phase synthesis of ligated sub-nanometer gold clusters and their gas-phase fragmentation pathways. Small mixed ligand cationic gold clusters were synthesized using reactions between pre-formed triphenylphosphine ligated (PPh3) gold clusters and monodentate Me- and Cy-substituted phosphine ligands in solution and characterized using electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) and collision-induced dissociation (CID) experiments. Under the same experimental conditions, larger gold-PPh3 clusters undergo efficient exchange of unsubstituted PPh3 ligands for singly Me- and Cy-substituted PPh2Me and PPh2Cy ligands. The efficiency of reaction decreases with an increasing number of Me or Cy groups in the substituted phosphine ligands. CID experiments performed for a series of mixed-ligand gold clusters indicate that loss of a neutral Me-substituted ligand is preferred over loss of a neutral PPh3 ligand while the opposite trend is observed for Cy-substituted ligands. The branching ratio of the competing ligand loss channels is strongly correlated with the electron donating ability of the phosphorous lone pair as determined by the relative proton affinity of the ligand. The results indicate that the relative ligand binding energies increase in the order PMe3 < PPhMe2 < PPh2Me < PPh3 < PPh2Cy < PPhCy2 < PCy3. Furthermore, the difference in relative ligand binding energies increases with the number of substituted PPh(3-m)Me(m) or PPh(3-m)Cy(m) ligands (L) on each cluster. This study provides the first experimental determination of the relative binding energies of ligated gold clusters containing differently substituted monophosphine ligands, which are important to controlling their synthesis and reactivity in solution. The results also indicate that ligand substitution is an important parameter that must be considered in theoretical modeling of these complex systems.