Ni(II) Precatalysts Enable Thioetherification of (Hetero)Aryl Halides and Tosylates and Tandem C-S/C-N Couplings.

Ni-catalyzed C-S cross-coupling reactions have received less attention compared with other C-heteroatom couplings. Most reported examples comprise the thioetherification of most reactive aryl iodides with aromatic thiols. The use of C-O electrophiles in this context is almost uncharted. Here, we describe that preformed Ni(II) precatalysts of the type NiCl(allyl)(PMe2 Ar') (Ar'=terphenyl group) efficiently couple a wide range of (hetero)aryl halides, including challenging aryl chlorides, with a variety of aromatic and aliphatic thiols. Aryl and alkenyl tosylates are also well tolerated, demonstrating, for the first time, to be competent electrophilic partners in Ni-catalyzed C-S bond formation. The chemoselective functionalization of the C-I bond in the presence of a C-Cl bond allows for designing site-selective tandem C-S/C-N couplings. The formation of the two C-heteroatom bonds takes place in a single operation and represents a rare example of dual electrophile/nucleophile chemoselective process.

A highly constrained cis-dihydride platinum complex trapped by cooperative gold/platinum dihydrogen activation.

A series of Au(I)/Pt(0) combinations that behave as bimetallic frustrated Lewis pairs activates dihydrogen in a cooperative manner. The steric bulk of the terphenyl phosphines that stabilize both fragments allows for the isolation of a rather unique and highly distorted cis-type dihydride platinum(II) structure.

Zero-valent ML2 complexes of group 10 metals supported by terphenyl phosphanes.

Bulky terphenyl phosphane ligands PMe2Ar' (Ar' = terphenyl group) facilitate the isolation of zero-valent bis-phosphane complexes of nickel, palladium and platinum. The former show coordination numbers greater than two in the solid state due to the existence of Ni-Carene interactions with the terphenyl fragment.