Syntheses and characterization of five-coordinate copper(II) complexes based on tridentate SNS pincer ligand precursors

N-Heterocyclic Carbene Adducts of Main Group Elements and Their Use as Ligands in Transition Metal Chemistry

N-Heterocyclic carbenes (NHC) are nowadays ubiquitous and indispensable in many research fields, and it is not possible to imagine modern transition metal and main group element chemistry without the plethora of available NHCs with tailor-made electronic and steric properties. While their suitability to act as strong ligands toward transition metals has led to numerous applications of NHC complexes in homogeneous catalysis, their strong σ-donating and adaptable π-accepting abilities have also contributed to an impressive vitalization of main group chemistry with the isolation and characterization of NHC adducts of almost any element. Formally, NHC coordination to Lewis acids affords a transfer of nucleophilicity from the carbene carbon atom to the attached exocyclic moiety, and low-valent and low-coordinate adducts of the p-block elements with available lone pairs and/or polarized carbon-element π-bonds are able to act themselves as Lewis basic donor ligands toward transition metals. Accordingly, the availability of a large number of novel NHC adducts has not only produced new varieties of already existing ligand classes but has also allowed establishment of numerous complexes with unusual and often unprecedented element-metal bonds. This review aims at summarizing this development comprehensively and covers the usage of N-heterocyclic carbene adducts of the p-block elements as ligands in transition metal chemistry.

Palladium pincer-type complexes and zwitterionic sulfur adducts of pyridine-bridged bis(1,2,3-triazolin-5-ylidenes): syntheses, characterizations and catalytic applications

Different reactivities of pincer-type pyridine-bridged bis(mesoionic carbenes) towards palladium(ii) and elemental sulfur have been revealed.

Large CuI8 chalcogenone cubic cages with non-interacting counter ions

Synthesis and applications of two mega size octanuclear copper(i) chalcogenone cages have been reported.

Synthesis, characterization, photophysical properties, and catalytic activity of an SCS bis(N-heterocyclic thione) (SCS-NHT) Pd pincer complex

Treatment of 1,3-bis(3'-butylimidazolyl-1'-yl)benzene diiodide with elemental sulfur in the presence of a base produced a bis(N-heterocyclic thione) (NHT) pincer ligand precursor. Its reaction with PdCl2(CH3CN)2 produced chloro[1,3-bis(3'-butylimidazole-2'-thione-κ-S)benzene-κ-C]palladium(ii), a 6,6-fused ring SCS-NHT palladium pincer complex. This air stable compound is, to our knowledge, the first SCS pincer complex that utilizes N-heterocyclic thione (NHT) donor groups. The molecular structures of the ligand precursor and the palladium complex were determined by X-ray crystallography and computational studies provided insight into the interconversion between its rac and meso conformations. The photophysical properties of the complex were established, and its catalytic activity in Suzuki, Heck, and Sonogashira cross-coupling reactions was evaluated.