Oxidative Addition of Aryl Electrophiles to a Prototypical Nickel(0) Complex: Mechanism and Structure/Reactivity Relationships

Detailed kinetic studies of the reaction of a model Ni⁰ complex with a range of aryl electrophiles have been conducted. The reactions proceed via a fast ligand exchange pre-equilibrium, followed by oxidative addition to produce either [Ni^IX­(dppf)] (and biaryl) or [Ni^II(Ar)­X­(dppf)]; the <i>ortho</i> substituent of the aryl halide determines selectivity between these possibilities. A reactivity scale is presented in which a range of substrates is quantitatively ranked in order of the rate at which they undergo oxidative addition. The rate of oxidative addition is loosely correlated to conversion in prototypical cross-coupling reactions. Substrates that lead to Ni^I products in kinetic experiments produce more homocoupling products under catalytic conditions