Nickel-Catalyzed Cross-Coupling of Anisoles with Alkyl Grignard Reagents via C-O Bond Cleavage.

Nickel-catalyzed cross-coupling of methoxyarenes with alkyl Grignard reagents, which involves the cleavage of the C(aryl)-OMe bond, has been developed. The use of 1,3-dicyclohexylimidazol-2-ylidene as a ligand allows the introduction of a variety of alkyl groups, including Me, Me3SiCH2, ArCH2, adamantyl, and cyclopropyl. The method can also be used for the alkylative elaboration of complex molecules bearing a C(aryl)-OMe bond.