Metal-Reductant-Free Electrochemical Nickel-Catalyzed Couplings of Aryl and Alkyl Bromides in Acetonitrile

While reductive cross-electrochemical coupling is an attractive approach for the synthesis of complex molecules at both small and large scale, two barriers for large-scale applications have remained: the use of stoichiometric metal reductants and a need for amide solvents. In this communication, new conditions that address these challenges are reported. The nickel-catalyzed reductive cross-coupling of aryl bromides with alkyl bromides can be conducted in a divided electrochemical cell using acetonitrile as the solvent and diisopropylamine as the sacrificial reductant to afford coupling products in synthetically useful yields (22–80%). Additionally, the use of a combination of the ligands 4,4′,4″-tri-tert-butyl-2,2′:6′,2′-terpyridine and 4,4′-di-tert-butyl-2,2′-bipyridine is essential to achieve high yields.