Reductive elimination of R-R from dialkyl(2,2 -bipyridyl)nickel( ), [NiR 2 (bpy)] 1 (R = CH 3 ( 1a ), C 2 H 5 ( 1b ), n -C 3 H 7 ( 1c )), caused by π -coordination of electron-accepting aromatic compounds and reductive elimination of Ar-Ar from [NiAr 2 (bpy)] 2 (Ar = C 6 F 5 ( 2a ) and pyrazolyls ( 2b and 2c )) promoted by electron-accepting aromatic compounds, Lewis acids, and Brønsted acids have been investigated. 1 H-NMR and kinetic data indicate that π -coordination of the electron-accepting aromatic compound to [NiR 2 (bpy)] leads to the reductive elimination of R-R. The rate of the reductive elimination obeys the second-order rate law,Plots of log k vs Σ σ p of the electron-accepting aromatic compound give a line with a slope of 1.8. Brønsted acids cause reductive elimination of Ar-Ar from 2 selectively under several reaction conditions (e.g., 2a with CF 3 COOH in air and 2b with HBr). The reductive elimination reaction of 2a caused by CF 3 COOH obeys the second-order rate law, − 1 at 300.5 K. UV-vis data give information about the electronic states of 2 and the 2b -Brønsted acid adduct. Poly(6-hexylpyridine-2,5-diyl) with a higher molecular weight has been prepared according to the basic information.Reductive elimination is one of the most fundamental reactions in organometallic chemistry.1-4 The reductive elimina-is considered to be a key step in Ni-and Pdcomplex promoted organic synthesis 1,5,6 and polymer synthesis. 7,8 Factors that control the reductive elimination from diorganometallic complexes, [M(Y)(Y )L n ] (M = Ni, Pd; L = neutral ligand such as 2,2 -bipyridyl and tertiary phosphines) have long been investigated. The diaryl nickel complex has been isolated mainly with electron-withdrawing aryl groups that stabilize the Ni-aryl bond.In this paper, we report details of (i) the reductive elimination reaction of [Ni(alkyl) 2 (bpy)] (bpy = 2,2 -bipyridyl) accelerated by the coordination of electron-accepting aromatic compounds such as m-and p-C 6 H 4 (CN) 2 and (ii) the reductive elimination reaction of [Ni(aryl) 2 (bpy)] induced by Lewis acid and protic acids. The Brønsted acids usually induce the cleavage of metal-organic (M-Y) bonds to liberate Y-H compounds; 1,3c,9f,10 however, the present investigation reveals that it can cause selective reductive elimination when the organic group is the electron-accepting aryl group.(2) Analysis of these reductive elimination reactions is expected to improve our understanding of the nickel-complex-promoted synthetic reactions. A part of these results have been published in a communication form. 9c have been determined by X-ray crystallography; they take a square planar structure around Ni, as previously reported for 2c. The molecular structure of 2a is shown in Figure 1 and that of 2b is given in the supporting data.Reductive