Ligand-Controlled Regiodivergent Catalytic Amidation of Unactivated Secondary Alkyl Bromides

A regiodivergent Ni-catalyzed amidation of unactivated secondary alkyl bromides is described. The site-selectivity of the amidation event is dictated by subtle differences on the ligand backbone, allowing introduction of the amide function at either the original sp3 carbon–halide bond or at distal sp3 C–H sites within an alkyl side-chain via chain-walking scenarios.