Bidentate P, N-P Ligand for Nickel-Catalyzed Cross-Coupling of Aryl or Benzyl Chlorides with ArMgX

A cross-coupling reaction of a variety of aryl, heteroaryl, and benzyl chlorides with ArMgX is catalyzed by 2 mol % of a nickel-phosphine complex prepared in situ from an equimolar amount of Ni(CH3CN)(2)Cl-2 and ligand (L2) to yield products in excellent yield in THF at room temperature. This new bidentate ligand (L2) is stable in air and forms a stable complex upon reaction with Ni(CH3CN)(2)Cl-2. Structures of the ligand and the complex were confirmed by single-crystal X-ray diffraction.