Ni-Catalyzed\nRegioselective Alkylarylation of Vinylarenes\nvia C(sp³)–C(sp³)/C(sp³)–C(sp²) Bond Formation and\nMechanistic Studies

Abstract

We report a Ni-catalyzed\nregioselective alkylarylation of vinylarenes\nwith alkyl halides and arylzinc reagents to generate 1,1-diarylalkanes.\nThe reaction proceeds well with primary, secondary and tertiary alkyl\nhalides, and electronically diverse arylzinc reagents. Mechanistic\ninvestigations by radical probes, competition studies and quantitative\nkinetics reveal that the current reaction proceeds via a Ni(0)/Ni­(I)/Ni­(II)\ncatalytic cycle by a rate-limiting direct halogen atom abstraction\nvia single electron transfer to alkyl halides by a Ni(0)-catalyst.