Remarkable ligand effect in Ni- and Pd-catalyzed bisthiolation and bisselenation of terminal alkynes:: Solving the problem of stereoselective dialkyldichalcogenide addition to the CC bond

We have developed two new catalytic systems based on Ni and Pd complexes to solve the challenging problem of dialkyldichalcogenide (Alk(2)E(2); E = S, Se) addition to alkynes. A comparative study of two catalytic systems-Ni/PMe2Ph and Pd/PCy2Ph-has revealed that the Ni catalyst is superior with respect to high catalytic activity and more general scope relative to the Pd system. A novel synthetic methodology was developed for the preparation of (Z)-bis(alkylthio)alkenes and (Z)-bis(alkylseleno)alkenes from terminal alkynes with excellent stereoselectivity and high yields.