Access to β-Ketonitriles through Nickel-Catalyzed Carbonylative Coupling of α-Bromonitriles with Alkylzinc Reagents

Herein, we report a nickel-catalyzed carbonylative coupling of alpha-bromonitriles and alkylzinc reagents with near stoichiometric carbon monoxide to give beta-ketonitriles in good yields. The reaction is catalyzed by a readily available and stable nickel(II) pincer complex. The developed protocol tolerates substrates bearing a variety of functional groups, which would be problematic or incompatible with previous synthetic methods. Additionally, we demonstrate the suitability of the method for carbon isotope labeling by the synthesis of C-13-labeled beta-ketonitriles and their transformation into isotopically labeled heterocycles.