Abstract
This work reviews the literature published up to early 2021 dealing with the synthesis, chemical behavior, and applications of transition metal complexes that are soluble in water thanks to the presence of hydrophilic groups in N-heterocyclic carbene ligands. Section 2 discusses strategies for the attachment of hydrophilic groups (anionic, cationic, or neutral) to NHC ligands. In addition, a selection of hydrophilic NHC ligands and complexes synthesized in recent years is presented. Section 3 describes studies concerning the synthesis of NHC complexes using water as solvent and the reactivity of NHC complexes in this solvent. Section 4 summarizes the main applications of water-soluble N-heterocyclic carbene metal complexes in catalysis and biomedicine. Engineering of metal surfaces with hydrophilic N-heterocyclic carbene ligands is also discussed.
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