skip to main content
US FlagAn official website of the United States government
dot gov icon
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
https lock icon
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( lock ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.


Title: Leveraging the Redox Promiscuity of Nickel To Catalyze C–N Coupling Reactions
This perspective details advances made in the field of Ni-catalyzed C–N bond formation. The use of this Earth abundant metal to decorate amines, amides, lactams, and heterocycles enables direct access to a variety of biologically active and industrially relevant compounds in a sustainable manner. Herein, different strategies that leverage the propensity of Ni to facilitate both one- and two-electron processes will be surveyed. The first part of this Perspective focuses on strategies that facilitate C–N couplings at room temperature by accessing oxidized Ni(III) intermediates. In this context, advances in photochemical, electrochemical, and chemically mediated processes will be analyzed. A special emphasis has been put on providing a comprehensive explanation of the different mechanistic avenues that have been proposed to facilitate these chemistries; either Ni(I/III) self-sustained cycles or Ni(0/II/III) photochemically mediated pathways. The second part of this Perspective details the ligand designs that also enable access to this reactivity via a two-electron Ni(0/II) mechanism. Finally, we discuss our thoughts on possible future directions of the field.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
2235778
PAR ID:
10486616
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ;
Publisher / Repository:
American Chemical Society
Date Published:
Journal Name:
The Journal of Organic Chemistry
ISSN:
0022-3263
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. Abstract This work demonstrates the dominance of a Ni(0/II/III) cycle for Ni‐photoredox amide arylation, which contrasts with other Ni‐photoredox C‐heteroatom couplings that operate via Ni(I/III) self‐sustained cycles. The kinetic data gathered when using different Ni precatalysts supports an initial Ni(0)‐mediated oxidative addition into the aryl bromide. Using NiCl2as the precatalyst resulted in an observable induction period, which was found to arise from a photochemical activation event to generate Ni(0) and to be prolonged by unproductive comproportionation between the Ni(II) precatalyst and the in situ generated Ni(0) active species. Ligand exchange after oxidative addition yields a Ni(II) aryl amido complex, which was identified as the catalyst resting state for the reaction. Stoichiometric experiments showed that oxidation of this Ni(II) aryl amido intermediate was required to yield functionalized amide products. The kinetic data presented supports a rate‐limiting photochemically‐mediated Ni(II/III) oxidation to enable C−N reductive elimination. An alternative Ni(I/III) self‐sustained manifold was discarded based on EPR and kinetic measurements. The mechanistic insights uncovered herein will inform the community on how subtle changes in Ni‐photoredox reaction conditions may impact the reaction pathway, and have enabled us to include aryl chlorides as coupling partners and to reduce the Ni loading by 20‐fold without any reactivity loss. 
    more » « less
  2. Nickel complexes have been widely employed as catalysts in C–C and C–heteroatom bond formation reactions. While Ni(0), Ni( i ), and Ni( ii ) intermediates are most relevant in these transformations, recently Ni( iii ) and Ni( iv ) species have also been proposed to play a role in catalysis. Reported herein is the synthesis, detailed characterization, and reactivity of a series of Ni( ii ) and Ni( iii ) metallacycle complexes stabilized by tetradentate pyridinophane ligands with various N-substituents. Interestingly, while the oxidation of the Ni( ii ) complexes with various other oxidants led to exclusive C–C bond formation in very good yields, the use of O 2 or H 2 O 2 as oxidants led to formation of appreciable amounts of C–O bond formation products, especially for the Ni( ii ) complex supported by an asymmetric pyridinophane ligand containing one tosyl N-substituent. Moreover, cryo-ESI-MS studies support the formation of several high-valent Ni species as key intermediates in this uncommon Ni-mediated oxygenase-type chemistry. 
    more » « less
  3. Abstract There is a pressing need, particularly in the field of drug discovery, for general methods that will enable direct coupling of tertiary alkyl fragments to (hetero)aryl halides. Herein a uniquely powerful and simple set of conditions for achieving this transformation with unparalleled generality and chemoselectivity is disclosed. This new protocol is placed in context with other recently reported methods, applied to simplify the routes of known bioactive building blocks molecules, and scaled up in both batch and flow. The role of pyridine additive as well as the mechanism of this reaction are interrogated through Cyclic Voltammetry studies, titration experiments, control reactions with Ni(0) and Ni(II)‐complexes, and ligand optimization data. Those studies indicate that the formation of a BINAPNi(0) is minimized and the formation of an active pyridine‐stabilized Ni(I) species is sustained during the reaction. Our preliminary mechanistic studies ruled out the involvement of Ni(0) species in this electrochemical cross‐coupling, which is mediated by Ni(I) species via a Ni(I)‐Ni(II)‐Ni(III)‐Ni(I) catalytic cycle. 
    more » « less
  4. Abstract This study presents a Ni‐photoredox method for indoleN‐arylation, broadening the range of substrates to include indoles with unprotected C3‐positions and base‐sensitive groups. Through detailed mechanistic inquiries, a Ni(I/III) mechanism was uncovered, distinct from those commonly proposed for Ni‐catalyzed amine, thiol, and alcohol arylation, as well as from the Ni(0/II/III) cycle identified for amide arylation under almost identical conditions. The key finding is the formation of a Ni(I) intermediate bearing the indole nucleophile as a ligand prior to oxidative addition, which is rare for Ni‐photoredox carbon‐heteroatom coupling and has a profound impact on the reaction kinetics and scope. The pre‐coordination of indole renders a more electron‐rich Ni(I) intermediate, which broadens the scope by enabling fast reactivity even with challenging electron‐rich aryl bromide substrates. Thus, this work highlights the often‐overlooked influence of X‐type ligands on Ni oxidative addition rates and illustrates yet another mechanistic divergence in Ni‐photoredox C‐heteroatom couplings. 
    more » « less
  5. null (Ed.)
    The formation of amide bonds represents one of the most fundamental processes in organic synthesis. Transition-metal-catalyzed activation of acyclic twisted amides has emerged as an increasingly powerful platform in synthesis. Herein, we report the transamidation of N-activated twisted amides by selective N–C(O) cleavage mediated by air- and moisture-stable half-sandwich Ni(II)–NHC (NHC = N-heterocyclic carbenes) complexes. We demonstrate that the readily available cyclopentadienyl complex, [CpNi(IPr)Cl] (IPr = 1,3-bis(2,6-diisopropylphenyl)imidazol-2-ylidene), promotes highly selective transamidation of the N–C(O) bond in twisted N-Boc amides with non-nucleophilic anilines. The reaction provides access to secondary anilides via the non-conventional amide bond-forming pathway. Furthermore, the amidation of activated phenolic and unactivated methyl esters mediated by [CpNi(IPr)Cl] is reported. This study sets the stage for the broad utilization of well-defined, air- and moisture-stable Ni(II)–NHC complexes in catalytic amide bond-forming protocols by unconventional C(acyl)–N and C(acyl)–O bond cleavage reactions. 
    more » « less