Nickel macrocyclic complexes catalysis

One of the most spectacular and useful template reactions is the Curtis reaction , in which a new chelate ring is formed as the result of an aldol condensation between a methylene ketone or inline and an imine salt. The initial example of this reaction was the formation of a macrocyclic nickel(II) complex from tris(l,2-diaminoethane)nickel(II) perchlorate and acetone (equation 53).182 The reaction has been developed by Curtis and numerous other workers and has been reviewed.183 In mechanistic terms there is some circumstantial evidence to suggest that the nucleophile is an uncoordinated aoetonyl carbanion which adds to a coordinated imine to yield a coordinated amino ketone (equation 54). If such a mechanism operates then the template effect is largely, if not wholly, thermodynamic in nature, as described for imine formation. Such a view is supported by the fact that the free macrocycle salts can be produced by acid catalysis alone. However, this fact does not... 

In summary, a variety of square planar macrocyclic nickel complexes are capable of catalysis of olefin oxidation using strong terminal oxidants. With knowledge of the reaction mechanism and suitable functionalization of the periphery of the macrocycle, new catalysts might be developed which show high substrate selectivity as well as interesting regio- and stereochemistry. 

---