Dinickel catalyzed carbonylation reactions using metal carbonyl reagents as CO sources

Dinickel complexes promote stoichiometric Pauson–Khand reactions of enynes and CO (g). However, catalytic turnover is precluded by the strong binding of CO to the Ni₂ active site. This article describes the use of M(CO)_x reagents as stoichiometric CO precursors in Ni₂-catalyzed carbonylation reactions. As part of these studies, well-defined heterotrinuclear Ni₂Fe, Ni₂Co, and Ni₂Mn carbonyl clusters are synthesized using the NDI]Ni₂ platform as a template (NDI = naphthyridine–diimine).