Are Copper(I) Carbenes Capable Intermediates for Cyclopropanations? The Case for Ylide Intermediates

Charge-Tagged N-Heterocyclic Carbenes (NHCs): Revealing the Hidden Side of NHC-Catalysed Reactions through Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry

N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) are key intermediates in a variety of chemical reactions. Owing to their transient nature, the interception and characterization of these reactive species have always been challenging. Similarly, the study of reaction mechanisms in which carbenes act as catalysts is still an active research field. This Minireview describes the contribution of electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) to the detection of charge-tagged NHCs resulting from the insertion of an ionic group into the molecular scaffold. The use of different mass spectrometric techniques, combined with the charge-tagging strategy, allowed clarification of the involvement of NHCs in archetypal reactions and the study of their intrinsic chemistry.

Bond Activation by Metal-Carbene Complexes in the Gas Phase

"Bare" metal-carbene complexes, when generated in the gas phase and exposed to thermal reactions under (near) single-collision conditions, exhibit rather unique reactivities in addition to the well-known metathesis and cyclopropanation processes. For example, at room temperature the unligated [AuCH2](+) complex brings about efficient C-C coupling with methane to produce C2Hx (x = 4, 6), and the couple [TaCH2](+)/CO2 gives rise to the generation of the acetic acid equivalent CH2═C═O. Entirely unprecedented is the thermal extrusion of a carbon atom from halobenzenes (X = F, Cl, Br, I) by [MCH2](+) (M = La, Hf, Ta, W, Re, Os) and its coupling with the methylene ligand to deliver C2H2 and [M(X)(C5H5)](+). Among the many noteworthy C-N bond-forming processes, the formation of CH3NH2 from [RhCH2](+)/NH3, the generation of CH2═NH2(+) from [MCH2](+)/NH3 (M = Pt, Au), and the production of [PtCH═NH2](+) from [PtCH2](+)/NH3 are of particular interest. The latter species are likely to be involved as intermediates in the platinum-mediated large-scale production of HCN from CH4/NH3 (the DEGUSSA process). In this context, a few examples are presented that point to the operation of co-operative effects even at a molecular level. For instance, in the coupling of CH4 with NH3 by the heteronuclear clusters [MPt](+) (M = coinage metal), platinum is crucial for the activation of methane, while the coinage metal M controls the branching ratio between the C-N bond-forming step and unwanted soot formation. For most of the gas-phase reactions described in this Account, detailed mechanistic insight has been derived from extensive computational work in conjunction with time-honored labeling and advanced mass-spectrometry-based experiments, and often a coherent description of the experimental findings has been achieved. As for some transition metals, in particular those from the third row, the metal-carbene complexes can be formed directly from methane, coupling of the so-generated [MCH2] species with an inert molecule such as CH4, CO2, or NH3 constitutes a route to activate and functionalize methane under ambient conditions. Clearly, while these gas-phase studies cannot be translated directly to formally related processes in solution or those that occur at a surface, they nevertheless provide a conceptual mechanistic understanding and permit researchers to probe directly the remarkable intrinsic features of these elusive molecules and, in a broader context, help to identify the active site of a catalyst, the so-called "aristocratic atoms".