N-heterocyclic Carbene Adducts Research Articles

Green synthesis of selenium-N-heterocyclic carbene compounds: Evaluation of antimicrobial and anticancer potential

Three benzimidazolium salts (III-V) and respective selenium adducts (VI-VIII) were designed, synthesized and characterized by various analytical techniques (FT-IR and NMR 1H, 13C). Selected salts and respective selenium N-Heterocyclic carbenes (selenium-NHC) adducts were tested in vitro against Cervical Cancer Cell line (Hela), Breast Adenocarcinoma cell line (MCF-7), Retinal Ganglion Cell line (RGC-5) and Mouse Melanoma Cell line (B16F10) using MTT assay and the results were compared with standard drug 5-Fluorouracil. Se-NHC compounds and azolium salts showed significant anticancer potential. Molecular docking studies of compounds (VI, VII and VIII) showed strong binding energies and ligand affinity toward following angiogenic factors: VEGF-A (vascular endothelial growth factor A), EGF (human epidermal growth factor), HIF (Hypoxia-inducible factor) and COX-1 (Cyclooxygenase-1) suggesting that the anticancer activity of adducts (VI, VII and VIII) may be due to their strong anti-angiogenic effect. In addition, compounds III-VIII were screened for their antibacterial and antifungal potential. Adduct VI was found to be potent anti-fungal agent against A. Niger with zone of inhibition (ZI) value 27.01 ± 0.251 mm which is better than standard drug Clotrimazole tested in parallel.

N-Heterocyclic Carbene Adducts of Alkynyl Functionalized 1,3,2-Dithioborolanes.

Alkynyl functionalized boron compounds are versatile intermediates in the areas of medicinal chemistry, materials science, and optical materials. In particular, alkynyl boronate esters [R1−C≡C−B(OR2)2] are of interest since they provide reactivity at both the alkyne entity, with retention of the B−C bond or alkyne transfer to electrophilic substrates with scission of the latter. The boron atom is commonly well stabilized due to (i) the extraordinary strength of two B−O bonds, and (ii) the chelate effect exerted by a bifunctional alcohol. We reasoned that the replacement of a B−O for a B−S bond would lead to higher reactivity and post-functionalization in the resulting alkynyl boronate thioesters [R1−C≡C−B(S2X)]. Access to this poorly investigated class of compounds starts form chloro dithioborolane cyclo-Cl−B(S2C2H4) as a representative example. Whereas syntheses of three coordinate alkynyl boronate thioesters [R1−C≡C−B(S2X)] proved to be ineffective, the reactions of NHC-adducts (NHC = N-heterocyclic carbene) of cyclo-Cl-B(S2C2H4) afforded the alkyne substituted thioboronate esters in good yield. The products NHC−B(S2C2H4)(C≡C-R1) are remarkably stable towards water and air, which suggests their use as boron-based building blocks for applications akin to oxygen-based boronate esters.

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.

Investigation of Thiaborane closo- nido Conversion Pathways Promoted by N-Heterocyclic Carbenes.

The 12-X- closo-SB11H10 (X = H or I) thiaboranes react with one or two molar equivalents of various N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) to give the deprotonated 12-vertex species of [12-X-SB11H9·NHC]-[NHC-H]+composition as kinetic products. The use of one molar equivalent of a sterically more hindered NHC reactant leads to the formation of 12-X-SB11H10·NHC adducts with a heavily distorted cage and the nido electron count. Further reaction of 12-I-SB11H10·NHC to deboronated 12-X-SB10H9·NHC proceeds in acetone to complete the closo- nido reaction pathway under the thermodynamic control. The structures of all compounds have been investigated by NMR spectroscopy and diffraction techniques. The results are supported by theoretical methods.

A Masked Cuprous Hydride as a Catalyst for Carbonyl Hydrosilylation in Aqueous Solutions.

Redox-unstable cuprous hydridotriphenylborate was isolated as an N-heterocyclic carbene adduct [(IPr)Cu(HBPh3 )] (IPr=1,3-bis(2,6-diisopropylphenyl)imidazol-2-ylidene) with good thermal stability. Although this compound displays a contact ion-pair structure, CuI H-like catalytic activity was envisaged in carbonyl hydrosilylation. Sufficient moisture stability allowed the catalysis in aqueous/organic media. Mechanistic study further showed that a phenyl group on the borate anion is abstracted by [(IPr)Cu]+ to give the cationic organocopper complex [(IPr)2 Cu2 (μ-Ph)][BPh4 ].

The Lewis electron-pair bonding model: modern energy decomposition analysis

Breaking down the calculated interaction energy between two or more fragments into well-defined terms enables a physically meaningful understanding of chemical bonding. Energy decomposition analysis (EDA) is a powerful method that connects the results of accurate quantum chemical calculations with the Lewis electron-pair bonding model. The combination of EDA with natural orbitals for chemical valence (NOCV) links the heuristic Lewis picture with quantitative molecular orbital theory complemented by Pauli repulsion and Coulombic interactions. The EDA-NOCV method affords results that provide a physically sound picture of chemical bonding between any atoms. We present and discuss results for the prototypical main-group diatomics H2, N2, CO and BF, before comparing bonding in N2 and C2H2 with that in heavier homologues. The discussion on multiply bonded species is continued with a description of B2 and its N-heterocyclic carbene adducts. This Perspective introduces energy decomposition analysis as a means of providing a quantum chemically derived bonding model that we can use to rationalize molecular geometries and bonding. The model serves as a bridge between the simple Lewis electron-pair bond and the complicated quantum theoretical nature of the chemical bond.

Synthesis and Ring Strain of a Benzoborirene-N-Heterocyclic Carbene Adduct.

The reduction of an N-heterocyclic carbene (1,3-diisopropyl-4,5-dimethylimidazolin-2-ylidene, IiPr ) adduct of dichloro(ortho-bromophenyl)borane by tert-butyl lithium at low temperature yields the IiPr adduct A of parent benzoborirene, a highly strained boron-containing bicyclic compound. A is unstable at room temperature and dimerizes at low temperature to the bis-IiPr adduct of 9,10-dihydro-9,10-diboraanthracene, characterized by single-crystal X-ray crystallography.

A Stabilized Bisphosphanylsilylene and Its Heavier Congeners.

A bisphosphanylsilylene with [3]ferrocenophane backbone and its heavier analogues are described in the form of donor adducts. These heterocarbenes can be formed by dehydrochlorination (Si) or cycloreversion (Sn, Pb) using NHC (N-heterocyclic carbene) tetramethylimidazol-2-ylidene. The structures of the bisphosphanyl-silylene, -stannylene and -plumbylene NHC adducts are presented, and the bonding and stability of these compounds were elucidated using DFT calculations. Reactivity studies confirm the stability of the silylene adduct, where the electrophilic character of the silylene center is comparable to a borane.

Synthesis and Characterization of N-Heterocyclic Carbene-Coordinated Silicon Compounds Bearing a Fused-Ring Bulky Eind Group

The reactions of the fused-ring bulky Eind-substituted 1,2-dibromodisilene, (Eind)BrSi=SiBr(Eind) (1a) (Eind = 1,1,3,3,5,5,7,7-octaethyl-s-hydrindacen-4-yl (a)), with N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) (Im-Me4 = 1,3,4,5-tetramethylimidazol-2-ylidene and Im-iPr2Me2 = 1,3-diisopropyl-4,5-dimethylimidazol-2-ylidene) are reported. While the reaction of 1a with the sterically more demanding Im-iPr2Me2 led to the formation of the mono-NHC adduct of arylbromosilylene, (Im-iPr2Me2)→SiBr(Eind) (2a′), a similar reaction using the less bulky Im-Me4 affords the bis-NHC adduct of formal arylsilyliumylidene cation, [(Im-Me4)2→Si(Eind)]+[Br−] (3a). The NHC adducts 2a′ and 3a can also be prepared by the dehydrobromination of Eind-substituted dibromohydrosilane, (Eind)SiHBr2 (4a), with NHCs. The NHC-coordinated silicon compounds have been characterized by spectroscopic methods. The molecular structures of bis-NHC adduct, [(Im-iPr2Me2)2→Si(Eind)]+[Br−] (3a′), and 4a have been determined by X-ray crystallography.

Synthesis of Stable Pentacoordinate Silicon(IV)–NHC Adducts: An Entry to Anionic N-Heterocyclic Carbene Ligands

This work features the previously undescribed interactions of Martin’s spirosilane with different types of N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs). The level of interaction proved to be strongly dependent on the size of the Lewis base and could vary from the formation of isolable classical Lewis adducts to abnormal Lewis adducts, as evidenced by X-ray diffraction structure analyses and NMR studies. It has been found that abnormal adducts could be used as precursors for the synthesis of anionic NHCs bearing a weakly coordinating siliconate component. Complexation of these new types of carbenes with gold(I) and copper(I) has been efficiently accomplished. DFT calculations performed on the siliconate-based anionic NHC ligands revealed a high-lying HOMO and therefore a strong σ-donor character.

Isolable N-heterocyclic carbene adducts of the elusive diiodophosphine.

Reactions of PH-substituted phosphinidene-imidazolylidenes with I2 afford isolable NHC-adducts of the transient diiodophosphine PHI2. The products, which show a surprising structural diversity, are according to DFT studies best formulated as charge-transfer complexes of onio-substituted cationic phosphines with I- and are capable of reaction under formal transfer of an NHC-P+ unit.

N-Heterocyclic carbene-stabilised arsinidene (AsH).

N-Heterocyclic carbene adducts of the parent arsinidene (AsH) were prepared by two different synthetic routes, either by reaction of As(SiMe3)3 with 2,2-difluoroimidazolines followed by desilylation or by reaction of [Na(dioxane)3.31][AsCO] with imidazolium chlorides.

N-Heterocyclic carbene adducts of the heavier group 15 tribromides. Normal to abnormal isomerism and bromide ion abstraction.

The reactivity of the heavier group 15 tribromides, SbBr3 and BiBr3, towards 1,3-bis(2,6-diisopropylphenyl)-imidazol-2-ylidene (IPr) is described. These reactions quantitatively afford Lewis acid-base adducts, (IPr)EBr3 (E = Sb 1; Bi 2), which readily react with AlBr3 yielding cationic species [(IPr)EBr2]+ (E = Sb 3; Bi 4). Under thermal treatment, the N-heterocyclic carbene ligands in 1 and 2 will readily isomerise to afford the abnormally-bonded (or mesoionic) complexes (aIPr)EBr3 (E = Sb 5; Bi 6). As with 1 and 2, bromide abstraction from such compounds readily affords the cationic complexes [(aIPr)EBr2]+ (E = Sb 7; Bi 8). Finally, in an effort to elucidate the isomerisation process which allows for the conversion of 1 and 2 to the abnormally bonded systems (compounds 5 and 6), compound 1 was reacted with a further equivalent of IPr to afford the cationic species [(aIPr)2SbBr2]+ (9). This strongly suggests that the normal to abnormal isomerisation of the N-heterocylic carbene ligands in compounds 1 and 2 is mediated by the presence of free IPr. Compound [9]Br can be used to access the dicationic species [(aIPr)2SbBr]2+ (10), which we have identified spectroscopically. Single crystal X-ray structures and spectroscopic data for all compounds are discussed.

A comparative study on the N-heterocyclic carbene adducts of Ih-C60, D5h-C70 and Sc3N@Ih-C80.

We found that the standard B3LYP and dispersion-corrected B3LYP-D3 methods predicted completely opposite energy order for the Lewis acid-base adducts formed by Ih-C60 or D5h-C70 with normal C2-bound (nNHC) and abnormal C5-bound (aNHC) N-heterocyclic carbenes. By using the validated B3LYP-D3 method and taking the solvent effects into account, the exclusive formations of the nNHC-C60/70 (Li et al. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2011, 133, 12410-12413) and aNHC-Sc3N@Ih-C80 complexes (Chen et al. Chem. Sci., 2016, 7, 2331-2334) in two recent experiments were suggested to be thermodynamically and kinetically controlled, respectively. In contrast to the reported reactions of endohedral metallofullerenes, aNHC-Sc3N@Ih-C80 hardly isomerizes to the low-energy normal adducts under heat treatment probably due to the substantial energy barrier and excess NHC reagent used in the experiment. Furthermore, the highly regioselective addition of aNHC to the triple-hexagon-junction carbon atom of Sc3N@Ih-C80 was rationalized by using the frontier molecular orbital theory.

N-Heterocyclic Carbene Adducts of Molybdenum Tetracarboxylate Complexes

Treatment of the quadruply bonded dimolybdenum complexes [Mo2(μ-O2CCF3)4] (1), [Mo2(μ-O2CCH3)4] (2), and [Mo2(μ-O2CBut)4] (3) with the N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) L (La = IPr, Lb = IMes, Lc = IiPr2Me2, and Ld = IEt2Me2) results in the formation of a series of 1:1 and 1:2 adducts. In the case of the larger, and more sterically demanding, carbene ligands, i.e. La and Lb, coordination exclusively occurs axially with respect to the [Mo2] complexes and occurs only once in the case of La, [Mo2(μ-O2CR)4(La)] (R = Me, tBu, CF3) (1a–3a), and twice in the case of Lb, [Mo2(μ-O2CCF3)4(Lb)2] (2b). For the less sterically demanding carbene ligands (Lc and Ld) coordination to the [Mo2] core occurs twice, with a transoidal distribution about the [Mo2] unit and is exclusively in equatorial positions, resulting in partial displacement of two of the bridging {μ-O2CR} ligands in each complex. In the case of complexes 1a–3a, 2b, [Mo2(μ-OTFA)2(OTFA)2(Lc)2] (1c), [Mo2(μ-OTFA)2(OTFA)2(Ld)2] (1d), and [Mo2(μ-OAc)2(OAc)2(Ld)2] ...

N-Heterocyclic carbene adducts to [Cp′FeI]2: synthesis and molecular and electronic structure

Adducts [Cp′FeI(NHC)] exhibit a highly anisotropic magnetic Ms = ±2 ground state resulting in unusual large spin–lattice (Orbach) relaxation barriers observed by zero-field 57Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy.

N–N bond cleavage in a nitrous oxide–NHC adduct promoted by a PNP pincer cobalt(I) complex

The reactivity of a PNP cobalt(I) complex towards the nitrous oxide N-heterocyclic carbene adduct (NHC–N2O) was explored. Several products were isolated including the cobalt nitrosyl complex (HPNP)Co(NO) (1) and the NHC-derived imine NHCNH (2). This study provides a rare example of metal-mediated rupture of the N–N bond in a nitrous oxide derivative, a route that could be used to generate late-metal nitrosyls.

ChemInform Abstract: Structurally Simple Complexes of CO2

AbstractReview: 169 refs.

Expanded ring N-heterocyclic carbene adducts of group 15 element trichlorides: synthesis and reduction studies.

Reactions of the expanded ring N-heterocyclic carbene, 6-Dip (:C{N(Dip)CH2}2CH2, Dip = 2,6-diisopropylphenyl), with group 15 element trichlorides have yielded the monomeric complexes, [(6-Dip)ECl3] (E = P, As or Sb), two examples of which (E = P and Sb) have been crystallographically characterised. Reduction of [(6-Dip)PCl3] with KC8 yielded the unusual tetraphosphorus dicationic complex, [(6-Dip)2(μ-P4)]Cl2, the X-ray crystal structure of which shows it to be an ion-separate salt. The compound can also be prepared from the direct reaction of excess 6-Dip with PCl3. Treatment of the cyclic amidinium salt, [6-MesH]Br (6-MesH = [HC{N(Mes)CH2}2CH2](+), Mes = mesityl) with KC8, leads to reductive coupling of the heterocycle and formation of the hindered bis(hexahydropyrimidine), (6-MesH)2. An X-ray crystallographic analysis of (6-MesH)2 shows the compound to have a long central C-C bond, while an electrochemical analysis reveals it to undergo an irreversible two-electron oxidation in dichloromethane solutions.

Zincocene and dizincocene N-heterocyclic carbene complexes and catalytic hydrogenation of imines and ketones.

The N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) adducts Zn(Cp(R))(2) (NHC)] (Cp(R) =C(5)HMe(4), C(5)H(4) SiMe(3); NHC=ItBu, IDipp (Dipp=2,6-diisopropylphenyl), IMes (Mes=mesityl), SIMes) were prepared and shown to be active catalysts for the hydrogenation of imines, whereas decamethylzincocene [ZnCp*(2)] is highly active for the hydrogenation of ketones in the presence of noncoordinating NHCs. The abnormal carbene complex [Zn(OCHPh(2))(2) (aItBu)](2) was formed from spontaneous rearrangement of the ItBu ligand during incomplete hydrogenation of benzophenone. Two isolated Zn(I) adducts [Zn(2)Cp*(2) (NHC)] (NHC=ItBu, SIMes) are presented and characterized as weak adducts on the basis of (13)C NMR spectroscopic and X-ray diffraction experiments. A mechanistic proposal for the reduction of [ZnCp*(2)] with H(2) to give [Zn(2)Cp*(2)] is discussed.