RECENT ADVANCES IN ORGANIC REACTIONS CATALYZED BY NICKEL

Nickel complexes have been widely used as catalysts in organic reactions. Their low price compared to Pd and Pt complexes, in addition to their high reactivity and affinity to pi systems; the possibility to access different oxidation states and the difficulty to undergo beta-hydride elimination are important features that have attracted the attention of chemists in recent decades. Furthermore, some drawbacks observed with Pd catalysis have been solved by Ni catalysis. These Ni based-catalysts have been used in different reaction manifolds to promote challenging transformations. Herein, recent work using nickel catalysts in different types of reactions, such as carbonylations, carboxylations, C-H activations and dual catalytic systems are described. Critical mechanistic investigations, as well as synthetic applications are also covered.