Patent ID: 8530689

Claim:
A process for the synthesis of a compound of the formula: wherein: R 1 and R 2 are each, independently, C 1 -C 12 alkyl, CO 2 R 3 , OR 4 , R 5 (OR 6 ), or C 6 -C 18 aryl; R 3 -R 6 are each, independently, C 1 -C 12 alkyl or C 6 -C 12 aryl; and n and m are each, independently, 0 or an integer from 1-5; said process comprising: reacting a compound of the formula HO—R 7 —OH with BH 3 and a compound of the formula in the presence of a nickel-containing catalyst to produce a first product, where R 7 is a C 2 -C 12 hydrocarbon group and X is a halogen, OTs, or OMs; contacting the first product with a compound of the formula: in the presence of a nickel-containing catalyst to produce a compound of formula I, where Z is a halogen and where the nickel-containing catalyst is independently selected from NiCl 2 (dppp), NiCl 2 (dppe), NiCl 2 (PPh 3 ) 2 and Ni(COD) 2 .