Migration of metals along a carbon chain is triggered by two of the most common organometallic elementary steps – β-hydride (β-H) elimination and alkene hydrometallation. This process heralds a new...

We disclose a Ni-catalyzed vicinal difunctionalization of alkenes with benzyl halides and alkylzinc reagents, which produces products with two new alkyl–alkyl bonds. This alkene dialkylation is effective in combining secondary benzyl halides and secondary alkylzinc reagents with internal alkenes, which furnishes products with three contiguous all-carbon secondary stereocenters. The products can be readily elaborated to access complex tetralene, benzosuberene, and bicyclodecene cores. The reaction also features as the most efficient alkene difunctionalization process to date with catalyst loadings down to 500 ppm and the catalytic turnover number (TON) and turnover frequency (TOF) registering up to 2 × 103 and 165 h–1 at rt, respectively.

We disclose a nickel‐catalyzed reaction, which enabled us to difunctionalize unactivated γ,δ‐alkenes in ketones with alkenyl triflates and arylboronic esters. The reaction was made feasible by the use of 5‐chloro‐8‐hydroxyquinoline as a ligand along with NiBr2⋅DME as a catalyst and LiOtBu as base. The reaction proceeded with a wide range of cyclic, acyclic, endocyclic and exocyclic alkenyl ketones, and electron‐rich and electron‐deficient arylboronate esters. The reaction also worked with both cyclic and acyclic alkenyl triflates. Control experiments indicate that carbonyl coordination is required for the reaction to proceed.