Ni(0)-Cu(i): a powerful combo catalyst for simultaneous coupling and cleavage of the C-N bond with cyclization to valuable amide-based pyrroles and 4-pyridonesElectronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Experimental procedures, characterization data and NMR spectra. See DOI: 10.1039/c5ra12115a

Unprecedented ligand-tuned Ni(0)-Cu( i ) combo catalysis is demonstrated via sequential bond activated domino C-N/C-C coupled annulation with C-N bond cleavage to afford valuable polysubstituted amide-based pyrroles and 4-pyridones selectively from β-ketoanilides. We demonstrate unprecedented Ni(0)-Cu( i ) combo catalysis for sequential bond activated domino N-C/C-C coupled annulation with N-C bond cleavage to afford valuable amide-based polysubstituted pyrroles and 4-pyridones selectively from β-ketoanilides.