o-Dihaloarenes acting as aryne precursors react with acetylenes and nitriles catalyzed by the NiBr₂(dppe)/dppe/Zn system to give substituted naphthalene, phenanthridine or triphenylene derivatives depending on the reaction conditions in moderate to excellent yields with good tolerance of functional groups.

The NiBr₂(dppe)–Zn system effectively catalyzes the [2 + 2 + 2] cocyclotrimerization of arynes with diynes, leading to substituted naphthalene derivatives in moderate to good yields. This cocyclotrimerization reaction shows excellent tolerance of functional groups and leads to products of 5- to 7-membered fused-ring sizes

The NiBr₂(dppe)–Zn system effectively catalyzes the [2+2+2] cocyclotrimerization of arynes with allenes, leading to 10-methylene-9,10-dihydrophenanthrenes in moderate to good yields. The cocyclotrimerization is highly selective with only the internal double bond of the allenes being involved in the reaction.