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...

Donor(thf)-induced tetramethylaluminate cleavage of Ln(AlMe(4))(2)(NSiMe(3)Ar(iPr)) as well as the reaction of (LnMe(3))(n) (Ln = Y, Ho, Lu) with HNSiMe(3)Ar(iPr) in tetrahydrofuran affords unprecedented trinuclear rare-earth metal tetramethyl methylidene complexes which act as Schrock-type nucleophilic carbenes and methyl transfer agents.

Linear two-coordinate copper complexes of cyclic (alkyl)(amino)carbenes (CAAC)CuX (X = halide) show photoluminescence with solid-state quantum yields of up to 96%; in contrast to previously reported Cu photoemitters the emission is independent of temperature over the range T = 4-300 K and occurs very efficiently by prompt rather than delayed fluorescence, with lifetimes in the sub-nanosecond ra...

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 ...

Abstract: We report the use of polymer N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) to control microenvironment surrounding metal nanocatalysts, thereby enhancing their catalytic performance in CO2 electroreduction. Three NHC ligands were...

Cycloisomerizations of enynes are probably the most representative carbon-carbon bond forming reactions catalyzed by electrophilic metal complexes. These transformations are synthetically useful because chemists can use them to build complex architectures under mild conditions from readily assembled starting materials. However, these transformations can have complex mechanisms. In general, gold...

We herein summarize our recent results on the design and application of metal complexes that bear N-phosphine-oxide-substituted imidazolylidenes (PoxIms), in which volume shape reaction space around carbene atoms can be drastically changed via rotation N-phosphinoyl groups; this phenomenon is discussed detail based experimental theoretical results. also discuss PoxIms to implement frustration r...