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...

The N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHC) now hold a preferredligand status in organic and organometallic chemistry. Their role in catalysis continues to grow. When the editorial staff at the Beilstein Journal of Organic Chemistry contacted me to act as a guest editor for the thematic series “N-Heterocyclic carbenes”, I was more than happy to accept what appeared to me to be a simple and exciting endea...

Treatment of N-heterocyclic carbenes (as their free carbenes or generated in situ) with alkyl, aryl, acyl or tosyl azides afforded the respective substituted triazenes in excellent yields.

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...

N-heterocyclic carbenes are a class of persistent carbenes stabilized by adjacent heteroatoms that are part of a heterocycle. They play a central role in multiple enzymatic biosynthetic reactions that involve thiamine diphosphate. Inspired by this biocatalysis machinery, N-heterocyclic carbenes have emerged as one of the most versatile classes of organocatalysts for organic reactions. However, ...

We prepared a series of imidazolium-substituted uracil-anions which are members of the class of cross-conjugated heterocyclic mesomeric betaines. They are in tautomeric equilibrium with their N-heterocyclic carbenes, uracil-6-yl-imidazol-2-ylidenes. These carbenes can be trapped by reaction with sulfur, selenium, as well as by triethylborane and triphenylborane, respectively. The latter trappin...

Key words SCAD - lactams N-heterocyclic carbenes single-carbon homologation

In the investigation of efficient chemical transformations, the carbon-carbon bond-forming reactions play an outstanding role. In this context, organocatalytic processes have achieved considerable attention.1 Beside their facile reaction course, selectivity, and environmental friendliness, new synthetic strategies are made possible. Particularly, the inversion of the classical reactivity (Umpol...