Electrochemical synthesis and catalytic activity of organonickel sigma-complexes

A new industrially applicable method of organonickel sigma-complexes production is developed. The technique is based on the reaction of the oxidative addition of ortho-substituted aromatic bromides to electrochemically generated nickel(0)-2,2′-bipyridyl complexes. Electrolysis is performed in undivided electrolyser supplied with sacrificial nickel anode with a periodic or continuous electrolyte loading. The electrochemically obtained organonickel sigma-complexes of type [NiBr(Ar)(bpy)], where Ar is 2,4,6-trimethylphenyl, 2,4,6-triisopropylphenyl, 2,6-dimethylphenyl, are highly effective precatalysts for ethylene oligomerization process, leading to the formation of linear alpha-olefines of C4–C12 fractions