Nickel Carbodicarbene Catalyzes Kumada Cross‐Coupling of Aryl Ethers with Grignard Reagents Through C–O Bond Activation

The development of a cross‐coupling reaction protocol between aryl ethers and Grignard reagents catalyzed by carbodicarbene (CDC) nickel complexes to afford biaryl compounds through C–O cleavage is reported. Aromatic substrates featuring a broad range of electron neutral, donating, or withdrawing groups are introduced at the desired position. The method has proven effective over a wide range of naphthyl methyl ethers, anisoles, and Grignard reagents. The robustness of the protocol is validated by performing multiple cleavage reactions, gram scale synthesis, and arylation of a dimethoxy esterdiol derivative.