Practical Ni-Catalyzed Aryl-Alkyl Cross-Coupling of Secondary Redox-Active Esters

A new transformation is presented that enables chemists to couple simple alkyl carboxylic acids with aryl zinc reagents under Ni-catalysis. The success of this reaction hinges on the unique use of redox-active esters that allow one to employ such derivatives as alkyl halides surrogates. The chemistry exhibits broad substrate scope and features a high degree of practicality. The simple procedure and extremely inexpensive nature of both the substrates and pre-catalyst (NiCl2 center dot 6H(2)O, ca. $9.5/mol) bode well for the immediate widespread adoption of this method.