Ligand-Enabled Ni-Al Bimetallic Catalysis for Nonchelated Dual C-H Annulation of Arylformamides and Alkynes.

A bifunctional secondary phosphine oxide (SPO) ligand-controlled method was developed for Ni-Al-catalyzed nonchelated dual C-H annulation of arylformamides with alkynes, providing a series of substituted amide-containing heterocycles in ≤97% yield. The SPO-bound bimetallic catalysis proved to be critical to the reaction efficiency.