Deciphering the mechanism of the Ni-photocatalyzed C‒O cross-coupling reaction using a tridentate pyridinophane ligand

Abstract

Mechanistic knowledge of photocatalytic nickel reactions is lacking, particularly with regards to the identities and oxidation states of key intermediates. Here the authors report a class of tridentate ligands that enables in-depth study of a representative cross-coupling reaction, wherein evidence for multiple intermediates in a Ni(I/III) cycle is presented.