Bimetallic Ni complexes mediates the homo-dimerization of a pincer scaffold

Chemical transformations promoted by bimetallic systems are abundant in nature and catalytic processes. In transition metal mediated organic reactions, the involvement of multinuclear complexes have been sparsely invoked for carbon−carbon, carbon−heteroatom and heteroatom−heteroatom bondforming, reductive elimination processes. However, the fundamental characterization of bimolecular systems as catalytic active sites is challenging owing to the limited supporting experimental evidence in accurately tracing multinuclear reaction paths, and their complex nature that involve numerous intermediates and mechanistic possibilities. This presentation will highlight our ongoing studies on of the key role of bimetallic Ni complexes in mediating the C(sp^₂)−C(sp²) reductive elimination on a catalytically relevant, quinoline-benzamide scaffold. Our mechanistic investigations support the conversion of NiIII complex 1 to the NiII coupling product 2 via a bimetallic process involving novel synchronous (1,1)- or (1,2)-transition state binding modes.