“…[18] Thus, we first systematically studied the influence of the length of the carbon bridge [-CH 2 A C H T U N G T R E N N U N G (CH 2 ) n -(n = 0-2)] in the backbone of bisphosphine ligands 1 a-f, containing either phenyl or tert-butyl substituents at the phosphorus atoms, on the selectivity of the oxidative coupling to yield nickelalactones 2 a-f (Table 1). Although complexes based on bis(diphenylphosphino)methane (dppm, 1 a) formed aggregates, [20] those based on the homologues 1,2-bis(diphenylphosphino)ethane (dppe, 1 b) [21] and 1,3-bis(diphenylphosphino)propane (dppp, 1 c) [22] rapidly formed the tetracoordinate Ni 0 species [NiA C H T U N G T R E N N U N G (dppe) 2 ] (4 b) [23,24] and [NiA C H T U N G T R E N N U N G (dppp) 2 ] (4 c) [25,26] in 65 and 24 % yield, respectively. Even after a reaction time of 72 h, none of the nickelalactones…”