A new ligand, Cp* CH2PPh2 (Cp*= 1, 2, 3, 4, 5-pentamethyl-2, 4-cyclopentadienyl), was prepared, and was used as a ligand for nickel-catalysed cross-coupling reaction of alkyl halides with aryl Grignard reagents, which nickel–phosphine complexes had never made possible.