“…[1,10] An early report by
Genet et al did focus on a water-soluble nickel catalyst, but the couplings were
limited to aryl chlorides, required 10 mol % NiCl 2 and 50 mol
% ligand loading, as well as significant heating to accommodate water-insoluble
coupling partners. [11] More recently,
significant advances by Hartwig, [12]
Buchwald, [13] Garg, [14] and others [2] provide solutions to some of these limitations, in
particular the issues of catalyst stability and sensitivity, loadings, substrate scope,
and reproducibility on somewhat larger scales. However, these still all involve organic
solvents, an excess of heavy base, elevated temperatures, and importantly, an excess of
a coupling partner, while none offers recycling of either the solvent or catalyst.…”