Abstract
Two named reactions of fundamental importance and paramount utility in organic synthesis have been reinvestigated, the Barton decarboxylation and Giese radical conjugate addition. N-hydroxyphthalimide (NHPI) based redox-active esters were found to be convenient starting materials for simple, thermal, Ni-catalyzed radical formation and subsequent trapping with either a hydrogen atom source (PhSiH(3) ) or an electron-deficient olefin. These reactions feature operational simplicity, inexpensive reagents, and enhanced scope as evidenced by examples in the realm of peptide chemistry.