A pyridine-bridged bis-benzimidazolylidene pincer nickel(II) complex: synthesis and practical catalytic application towards Suzuki-Miyaura coupling with less-activated electrophiles

A novel robust pyridine-bridged bis-benzimidazolylidene nickel pincer complex 3 accessible from inexpensive, commercially available precursors efficiently catalyzes the first practical Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling reactions with various less-reactive electrophiles ArX ( X = Br, Cl, OTs and OMs) and even tolerates electron-rich, sterically demanding and heterocyclic arenes in the presence of catalytic amounts of PPh3.