We checked the catalytic activity of Ni nanoparticles prepared by pulsed-laser ablation. The transmission electron microscopy images showed that Ni metal particles would have an inhomogeneous size distribution of 5.7 (+/-3.8) nm. The UV absorbance spectrum exhibited metallic Ni characteristics. Ni nanoparticles appeared to exhibit the catalytic activity in the oxidative addition reaction without any activations for the preparation of 3-arylpropanenitrile from benzylchloride and bromoacetonitrile in glyme with a yield of similar to20%. We could not find this catalytic effect for the larger sizes of submicron, 3 mum, and 100 mesh Ni particles. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.