Mechanisms of nickel-catalyzed reductive cross-coupling reactions

Abstract

Nickel-catalyzed reductive cross-coupling (RCC) reactions using two carbon electrophiles as coupling partners provide one of the most reliable and straightforward protocols for facile construction of valuable C-C bonds in the realm of organic chemistry. In recent years, significant progress has been made in the methodological developments and mechanistic studies of these reactions. This review summarizes four widely accepted mechanisms for RCC reactions that have been proposed by experiments or density functional theory calculations. The major difference between these four types of mechanisms lies in the oxidation state of the active catalyst, the change in the valence of nickel during the catalytic cycle, the involvement of carbon radicals, and the form in which the radicals are present. Herein, we focus on covering representative advancements in experimental and theoretical mechanistic studies, aiming to offer vital mechanistic insights into key intermediates, reaction rates, the activation modes of electrophiles, rate- or selectivity-determining steps, and the origin of the cross-selectivity.