The reductive elimination of 2-hydrocarbyl-imidazolium salts from hydrocarbyl-palladium complexes bearing N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) ligands represents an important deactivation route for catalysts of this type. We have explored the influence that carbene N-substituents have on both the activation energy and the overall thermodynamics of the reductive elimination reaction using density functi...

The first examples of reactions of Fischer carbene complexes with triynes are reported. The regioselectivity of the reaction of the two different alkyne functions in the symmetrical triyne depends on the nature of the substituent of the triyne. Bis-silyl-substituted triynes react at the central alkyne unit, whereas bis-aryl- and bis-alkyl-substituted triynes react at the end alkyne unit. The re...

The in vogue N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) have attracted attention largely for its new found popularity in chemical catalysis and also for displaying promising traits in biomedical applications. The current perspective provides an account of our efforts in exploring the utility of N/O-functionalized N-heterocyclic carbenes in these two areas. On the catalysis front, we have employed the N/O-f...

Transition metal and organic catalysts have established their own domains of excellence. It has been expected that merging the two unique domains should provide complimentary or unprecedented opportunities in converting simple raw materials to functional products. N-heterocyclic carbenes alone are excellent organocatalysts. When used with transition metals such as copper, N-heterocyclic carbene...

In this paper, we report the geometries and properties of 48 molecular species located on the MP2/6-311++G(d,p) PES of the fluorocarbene-(methanol)3 system. The structures were found by a combination of a stochastic search method, using a modified Metropolis acceptance test, and some hand constructed very symmetrical structures. We use several theoretical descriptors to categorize these species...

A set of β-ketoimidazolium and β-ketoimidazolinium salts of the general formula [R(1)C(O)CH2{CH[NCR(3)CR(3)N(R(2))]}]X (R(1) = (t)Bu, naphth; R(2) = (i)Pr, Mes, (t)Bu; R(3) = H, Me, (H)2; X = Cl, Br) show contrasting reactivity with superhydride bases MHBEt3; two are reduced to chiral β-alcohol carbene-boranes R(1)CH(OH)CH2{C(BEt3)[NCR(3)CR(3)N(R(2))]} 2 (R(1) = (t)Bu; R(2) = (i)Pr, Mes; R(3) =...

The reaction between an N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC), namely 1,3-bis(diisopropylphenyl)-imidazol-2ylene (1), and Sc3N@Ih-C80 successfully affords a Lewis acid–base pair (2a). Single crystal X-ray crystallographic results unambiguously reveal the unexpected structure of 2a where the abnormal carbene center of the NHC is connected to a triple-hexagon-junction (THJ) carbon atom of Sc3N@IhC80 via a...

A carbene is a divalent carbon atom linked to two other groups by covalent bonds, and possesses two unshared valence electrons. These electrons can be paired in the same orbital as anti-parallel spins (singlet) represented as σ2 or pπ2 in different orbitals, or as parallel spins (triplet) represented as σ1 pπ1. (Droge and Glorius, 2010). N-Heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) are singlet carbenes in wh...

Sterically similar palladium dicarbene complexes have been synthesized that comprise permethylated dicarbene ligands which bind the metal center either in a normal coordination mode via C2 or abnormally via C4. Due to the strong structural analogy of the complexes, differences in reactivity patterns may be attributed to the distinct electronic impact of normal versus abnormal carbene bonding, w...

The benzannulation reaction of Fischer carbene complexes is investigated under conditions where the reaction of the carbene complex is occurring in the presence of two different alkynes. A series of competition experiments are examined where the effects of various structural factors are explored by pitting 10 different carbene complexes with 11 different alkynes. Terminal alkynes will react sel...