Complexes of N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) with copper(II) halogenides are unstable. Upon formation, these complexes decompose to give haloamidinium salts. Contrastingly, O-substituted copper(II) NHC complexes are fairly stable. A series of new five-, six- and seven-membered ring NHC complexes of Cu(OAc)(2) have been synthesised and characterised in the solid state.

Ethynyldimesitylborane (1) is synthesised via salt elimination and its reactivity towards NHCs is studied. Depending on their size, NHCs attack either at the boron atom or at the β-alkynyl carbon atom. Steric control over the reaction was probed by reactions with N-heterocyclic carbenes yielding a carbene-borane adduct (2), a 1-boraindane (3), and the first structurally characterised borataalle...

A new strategy was developed for the modification of silver(I) and gold(I) N-heterocyclic carbenes. Azido groups were grafted and used either by copper-catalysed azide-alkyne cycloaddition before metallation or by thermal and "strain-promoted" 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition after metallation to functionalise the metal-NHCs.

The reaction of N-heterocyclic carbenes with polyaminoboranes [MeNH-BH2]n or [NH2-BH2]n at 20 °C led to depolymerisation and the formation of labile, monomeric aminoborane-NHC adducts, RNH-BH2-NHC (R = Me or H); a similar NHC adduct of Ph2N=BCl2 was characterized by single crystal X-ray diffraction.

A new method for the synthesis of industrially important azoimidazolium dyes is presented. The procedure is based on a reagent which is rarely used in the context of synthetic organic chemistry: nitrous oxide ("laughing gas"). N2O is first coupled to N-heterocyclic carbenes. Subsequent reaction with aromatic compounds through an AlCl3-induced C-H activation process provides azoimidazolium dyes ...

N-Heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) promote the transfer hydrogenation of various activated C=C, C=N, and N=N bonds with water as the proton source. The NHCs act as reducing reagents to be converted into their oxides. A detailed reaction mechanism is proposed on the basis of deuterium-labeling experiments.

The interaction of N,N0-bismesitylimidazolin-2-yl (IMes) with alcohols is discussed. NMR spectroscopy and X-ray crystallography were used to examine the influence of solvent and alcohol on this interaction. The stabilizing effect of these interactions may be used for the storage of nitrogen–heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) since removal of the volatiles liberates the NHC. 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rig...

Alkoxide-functionalized N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) stabilise the potassium-imidazole-2-ylidene fragment against 1,2 alkyl rearrangement reactions; this allows the first structural characterisation of a potassium NHC complex, which reveals distorted and unusual bonding interactions between the imidazole ring and the potassium cation.

The preparation of rhenium based octahedral clusters containing N-heterocyclic carbenes is described. These represent the first examples of [M6(μ3-Q)8](n+) or [M6(μ3-X)8](n+) clusters to contain a carbene ligand of any type (NHC, Fischer or Schrock). Surprisingly, the NHC ligands attenuate their luminescent properties.

N-Heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) were generated in-situ from imidazolium and imidazolinium salts by deprotonation of C-2 hydrogen and were used as ligands in the copper-catalyzed addition of diethylzinc to N-sulfonylimines. The copper-NHC complexes were shown to possess an efficient ligand acceleration effect (LAE).