Heterocyclic carbenes: A high-yielding synthesis of novel, functionalized N-heterocyclic carbenes in liquid ammonia

To date the only free carbenes of the imidazoline-2-ylidene type to have been described in the literature are those bearing simple hydrocarbon or haloalkyl and -aryl substituents. We report here a novel, versatile and high-yielding method for the synthesis of N-heterocyclic carbenes in a mixture of liquid ammonia and aprotic organic solvents. Deprotonation of the imidazolium precursor salts proceeds under mild conditions within a few minutes at temperatures below -30 degrees C, and side reactions are thus avoided. The imidazolium salts are much more soluble in organic solvents if liquid ammonia is added. Furthermore, the acidity of the C-2 protons appears to be enhanced by hydrogen bonding. Not only are the known free ylidenes conveniently and quantitatively accessible by this procedure, but also novel functionalized derivatives that are not accessible by known procedures. Imidazoline-2-ylidenes with linear, branched, cyclic, heteroatom-substituted (O, N, P) and chiral hydrocarbon residues are accessible through the novel route. Stable carbene-metal ''adducts'' are conveniently obtained by treating the free carbenes with chloro- or acetato-bridged dinuclear metal complexes, or by displacement of coordinated ligands such as carbon monoxide, THF or acetonitrile by the free carbenes. The syntheses of novel imidazolium salts, N-heterocyclic carbenes and carbene adducts of Ru-II, Rh-I, W-0 and sulfur are reported, and the structures of five products analysed by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. N-Heterocyclic carbenes bearing functionalized side chains are important because a number of these complexes show excellent activity in catalytic reactions. They do not show the typical reactivity of metal-carbon ''double bonds'' and are remarkably stable both thermally and chemically. For a number of reasons, they are best viewed as donor adducts of the highly Lewis basic imidazoline-2-ylidene ligands and the Lewis acidic organometallic fragments. The new synthetic procedure reported here makes N-heterocylic carbenes a generally accessible class of useful ligands in coordination chemistry and catalysis.