The reactivity of unsymmetrical pyrazole-based PCN pincer Ni(II) halides has been tested in the presence of copper(II) halides as an oxidizing agent as well as with NaBH₄ and LiAlH₄ as a hydride source. While the reaction with CuX₂ resulted into the generation of metastable PCN pincer Ni(III) species, the treatment of (^tBuPCN)NiCl with NaBH₄ led to the preparation and isolation of the borohydride complex (^tBuPCN)Ni(BH₄). Attempts to isolate nickel-hydride species upon treatment of (^tBuPCN)NiCl with either NaBH₄ or LiAlH₄ invariably led to the formation of free PCN(H) ligand and metallic Ni(0) nanoparticles after an in situ reductive elimination from the (metastable) hydride derivative (^tBuPCN)NiH. Finally, the halide complexes (pre-activated by MMAO) have been tested as homogeneous catalysts in ethylene oligomerization showing moderate activity (∼ 14 × 10³ mol_C2H4⋅mol_Ni⁻¹⋅h⁻¹) with the formation of even-numbered olefins (mainly C₄–C₁₀ fractions) as products.

已经在存在卤化铜（II）作为氧化剂以及使用NaBH ₄和LiAlH ₄作为氢化物源的情况下测试了不对称吡唑基PCN夹钳式Ni（II）卤化物的反应性。虽然与CuX ₂的反应导致生成亚稳态的PCN夹杂Ni（III）物种，但用NaBH ₄处理（^tBu PCN）NiCl导致制备和分离了硼氢化物配合物（^tBu PCN）Ni（BH ₄）。 。尝试用NaBH ₄或LiAlH ₄处理（^tBu PCN）NiCl后分离氢化镍从（可转移的）氢化物衍生物（^tBu PCN）NiH原位还原消除后，总是导致游离PCN（H）配体和金属Ni（0）纳米粒子的形成。最后，卤化物复合物（由MMAO预活化的），如乙烯低聚（〜14×10均相催化剂表示中等的活性已被测试³摩尔_C2H4 ⋅mol_镍^-1 ⋅h ^-1）与偶数烯烃的形成（主要是C ₄ –C ₁₀分数）作为产品。