Nickel-Catalyzed Decarbonylative Borylation and Silylation of Esters

The nickel-catalyzed direct borylation and silylation of phenolic esters has been established. The key to this highly efficient acyl C-O bond borylative and silylative cleavage depends on the appropriate choice of different ligands and additives in the presence of nickel catalyst. Both transformations exhibit good functional group compatibility and can serve as powerful synthetic tools for late-stage functionalization of complex compounds. The elucidation of key mechanistic features of this newly developed acyl C-O bond activation in esters was confirmed by two well-characterized organonickel(II) intermediates.