We herein describe a Ni-catalyzed multicomponent coupling reaction of alkyl halides,
isocyanides, and H2O to access alkyl amides. Bench-stable NiCl2(dppp) is competent to initiate this transformation under mild reaction conditions,
thus allowing easy operation and adding practical value. Substrate scope studies revealed
a broad functional group tolerance and generality of primary and secondary alkyl halides
in this protocol. A plausible catalytic cycle via a SET process is proposed based
on preliminary experiments and previous literature.
Key words
nickel catalysis - isocyanide - alkyl halides - multicomponent coupling reaction -
amide