Formation of Nickelacycles and Reaction with Carbon Monoxide

Nickel seems one of the most promising transition metals as a catalyst for a variety of carbonylation reactions. In fact, it has played an important role in industrial usage. However, a limited number of the catalytic carbonylation reactions have been reported. One of the reasons why chemists would not develop nickel-catalyzed carbonylation reactions is due to the possibility of the formation of the notorious highly toxic Ni(CO)4 in situ, which indicates that nickel can react with carbon monoxide. In this chapter, formation of nickelacycles and their reactivity with carbon monoxide to give cyclic carbonyl compounds are introduced.