Nickel-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions have emerged as sustainable and cost-effective synthetic methods. While nickel operates via classical closed-shell pathways to catalyze biaryl coupling reactions, its ability to mediate radical pathways has significantly broadened the scope of cross-coupling to include a diverse range of alkyl motifs. Building on mechanistic insights, we developed the ProPhos ligand, which enhances the reactivity of nickel-catalyzed Suzuki-Miyaura couplings.

Alkenes serve as a key handle for further functionalization, thus methods of activation that provide both selectivity, and tolerance to substitution and functional groups are highly sought after. Metal hydride atom transfer (MHAT) has seen a high level of interest for this reason. It avoids issues that occur in other common alkene functionalization methods like hydrometallation and Bronsted acid conditions.