Sagnik Chakrabarti

Catalytically competent nickel(I)–isocyanide compounds for cross-coupling reactions Nature Catalysis, Published online: 14 January 2026; doi:10.1038/s41929-025-01473-9Nickel-catalysed cross-coupling reactions generally use Ni(II) or Ni(0) precatalysts. Here the authors report thermally stable dinuclear Ni(I) complexes with commercial isocyanide ligands for the efficient catalysis in Kumada, Suzuki–Miyaura and Buchwald–Hartwig cross-coupling reactions.

New online! Catalytically competent nickel(I)–isocyanide compounds for cross-coupling reactions

Excited to share the largest chunk of my thesis in Prof. Liviu Mirica’s group on the dinuclear Ni(I) isocyanide compounds that are competent for a range of cross-coupling reactions. As we like to call it, “Ni(I) in a bottle”. Out now in @natcatal.nature.com

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

They can behave as catalysts or precats - a pretty rare use of isocyanides as spectator ligands in catalysis. We stand on the shoulders of giants - Otsuka, Kubiak, Muetterties, and others who worked on this chemistry in the 70s and 80s. And don’t worry, the complexes are not smelly. :-)

Catalytically Competent Nickel(I)-Isocyanide Compounds Nickel-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions have emerged as a powerful strategy to construct complex molecules. A salient feature of Ni catalysts is their ability to engage in one-electron chemistry inv...

Happy to share a story that we are excited for the world to see!Presenting a general Ni(I) precursor, supported by isocyanides as the only ligands! These are stable in the solution and solid-state in the glovebox for months and can catalyze a bunch of cross-coupling reactions. (1/2)

Now available @chemrxiv.bsky.social, and inspired by the work of @pepcornella.bsky.social, Keary Engle and John Montgomery... we exploit the redox non-innocent nature of BIAN ligands to deliver bench-stable low valent nickel precatalysts for use in coupling rxns chemrxiv.org/engage/chemr...

We're incredibly proud to say that our review of Cross-Electrophile Coupling: Principles, Methods, and Applications in Synthesis is now online and open access at Chem Rev! Congrats to the team for this labor of love (and data!) pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

Thanks for this initiative, Craig! I would like to be added as well!