Nickel-catalyzed reductive coupling of arylcarboxylic acid 2-pyridyl esters with alkyl methanesulfonates: access to alkyl aryl ketones.

Alkyl aryl ketones were synthesized via a nickel-catalyzed reductive coupling reaction of arylcarboxylic acid (2-pyridyl)esters with primary and secondary alkyl methanesulfonates under mild reaction conditions. This method suits a wide range of substrates and shows good compatibility with functional groups.