Coordination and oxidative addition of octafluoronaphthalene at a nickel centre: isolation of an intermediate in C–F bond activation

Reaction of [Ni(COD)2] with PEt3 and octafluoronaphthalene yielded the complex [Ni(η2-1,2-C10F8)(PEt3)2] 1, which was converted thermally into the C–F activation product trans-[NiF(2-C10F7)(PEt3)2] 2. The crystal structure of 1 shows asymmetric η2 coordination with significant distortions of the naphthalene unit compared to the “ free” ligand; DFT calculations reproduce the principal features of the geometry.