The Quest for the Ideal Base: Rational Design of a Nickel Precatalyst Enables Mild, Homogeneous C–N Cross-Coupling

of the Ni-bound amine and the barrier to reductive elimination from the resultant Ni(II)-amido complex. Moreover, we determined that the preclusion of Lewis acid-base complexation between the Ni catalyst and the base, due to steric factors, is important for avoiding catalyst inhibition.