Design of an Electron-Withdrawing Benzonitrile Ligand for Ni-Catalyzed Cross-Coupling Involving Tertiary Nucleophiles

29 March 2021, Version 1
This content is a preprint and has not undergone peer review at the time of posting.

Abstract

The design of new ligands for cross-coupling is essential for developing new catalytic reactions that access valuable products such as pharmaceuticals. In this report, we exploit the reactivity of nitrile-containing additives in Ni catalysis to design a benzonitrile-containing ligand for cross-coupling involving tertiary nucleophiles. Kinetic and Hammett studies are used to elucidate the role of the optimized ligand, which demonstrate that the benzonitrile moiety acts as an electron-acceptor to promote reductive elimination over β­-hydride elimination, and stabilize low-valent Ni. With these conditions, a protocol for decyanation–metalation and Ni-catalyzed arylation is conducted, enabling access to quaternary α-arylnitriles from disubstituted malononitriles.

Keywords

benzonitrile
ligand design
nickel
cross-coupling
malononitrile
decyanation

Supplementary materials

Title
Description
Actions
Title
Rousseaux-BenzonitrileLigand-SI
Description
Actions
Title
Rousseaux-BenzonitrileLigand-SI NMR
Description
Actions

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