Nickel-Catalyzed Desulfonylative Reductive Cross-Coupling of Aryl Sulfones with Aryl Bromides.

Herein, a nickel catalysis system for desulfonylative C(sp 2 )-C(sp 2 ) reductive cross-coupling reactions of aryl sulfone derivatives with a range of aryl bromides has been established to form diverse biaryl compounds. The complex Ar-Ni(II)-SO 2 CF 3 bearing a phosphine ligand through oxidative addition of aryl sulfone to Ni(0) species was isolated and confirmed by an X-ray, which provides solid evidence for the understanding of the C(Ar)-SO 2 bond activation and reaction mechanism.