Syntheses, structures, and catalytic activities of hemilabile thioether-functionalized NHC complexes

Abstract

Four imidazolium (5a/b) and benzimidazolium (6a/b) salts with hemilabile alkyl-aryl thioether functions have been prepared via a straightforward and modular pathway in order to compare their reactivities toward palladation. Reaction of 5a/b with Pd(OAc)2 gave complex product mixtures, whereas 6a/b afforded the desired bis(benzimidazolin-2-ylidene) complexes 8a/b in good yields. The difference in reactivities of benzimidazole versus imidazole derivatives was attributed to the presence of additional acidic protons at C4/5 positions of the imidazolium ring, leading to competing and unselective deprotonation reactions. The milder Ag-NHC transfer reaction, on the other hand, provided either mono- or bis(imidazolin-2-ylidene) complexes (9 or 7a/b) in good yields depending on the ligand:metal ratio. The interesting hemilability in monocarbene complex 9 was investigated by spectroscopy and thioether displacement reaction with PPh3, yielding the mixed. NHC-PPh 3 complex 1.0 in high yields. An initial, comparative catalytic study also reveals that the mixed-donor complex 1.0 exhibits the highest activity among the complexes tested. © 2010 American Chemical Society.