Probing the Interactions of Transition-Metal Complexes Bound at the Ortho Position of Substituted Biphenyls

(4,4‘-dimethylbipyridyl)NiMe 2 was found to react thermally with 2-iodo-2‘,4‘,6‘-trimethylbiphenyl ( 6 ) to produce a C−I insertion that is extremely distorted from square planarity, with the C−Ni−I plane intersecting the N−Ni−N plane by 33.4°. It was also found that [(dippe)RhCl] 2 reacts with 6 to produce an η 3 -benzylic complex by way of a rhodium migration to the methylated ring of the biphenyl unit.