The deprotonation of 1,3-dimesitylbenzimidazolium tetrafluoroborate with a strong base afforded 1,3-dimesitylbenzimidazol-2-ylidene (BMes), which was further reacted in situ with rhodium or ruthenium complexes to afford three new organometallic products. The compounds [RhCl(COD)(BMes)] (COD is 1,5-cyclooctadiene) and cis-[RhCl(CO)2(BMes)] were used to probe the steric and electronic parameters ...

Two papers examining mental incapacity among psychiatric in-patients are presented in the Journal this month – one investigation focuses on assessment reliability (Cairns et al, pp. 372–378) and one on the prevalence and predictors of incapacity (Cairns et al, pp. 379–385). The authors find that the MacArthur Competence Assessment Tool for Treatment (MacCAT– T) can be used reliably to assess ca...

Catalytic polymerization of ethylene in aqueous emulsion by in situ catalysts based entirely on compounds commercially available from standard chemicals suppliers, namely a chlorinated derivative of 1,4-benzoquinone, triphenylphosphine, and bis(1,5-cyclooctadiene)nickel, is reported. Using miniemulsions of catalyst solutions in a small amount of hydrocarbon solvent for polymerization, stable di...

A straightforward synthesis of a new hybrid scorpionate ligand [(allyl)2B(CH2PPh2)(Pz)](-) ([A2BPN](-)) is reported. Coordination to rhodium resulted in square-planar complexes [Rh(κ(2)-A2BPN)(L)(L')] [L = L' = (1)/2cod (1,5-cyclooctadiene), CN(t)Bu, CO (6); L = CO, L' = NH3, pyridine, PPh3, PMe3] for which spectroscopic data and the molecular structure of [Rh(κ(2)-A2BPN)(CO)PPh3] (11) indicate...