Quantification and variation of characteristic properties of different ligand classes is an exciting and rewarding research field. N-Heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) are of special interest since their electron richness and structure provide a unique class of ligands and organocatalysts. Consequently, they have found widespread application as ligands in transition-metal catalysis and organometallic chemistry, and as organocatalysts in their own right. Herein we provide an overview on physicochemical data (electronics, sterics, bond strength) of NHCs that are essential for the design, application, and mechanistic understanding of NHCs in catalysis.

The Measure of All Rings—N‐Heterocyclic Carbenes

The use of N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) in chemistry has developed rapidly over the past twenty years. These interesting compounds are predominantly employed in organometallic chemistry as ligands for various metal centres, and as organocatalysts able to mediate an exciting range of reactions. However, the sheer number of NHCs known in the literature can make the appropriate choice of NHC for a given application difficult. A number of metrics have been explored that allow the electronic properties of NHCs to be quantified and compared. In this review, we discuss these various metrics and what they can teach about the electronic properties of NHCs. Data for approximately three hundred NHCs are presented, obtained from a detailed survey of the literature.

Quantifying and understanding the electronic properties of N-heterocyclic carbenes

It is well-recognized that N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) ligands have provided a new dimension to the design of homogeneous catalysts. Part of the success of this type of ligands resides in the limitless access to a variety of topologies with tuned electronic properties, but also in the ability of a family of NHCs that are able to adapt their properties to the specific requirements of individual catalytic transformations. The term “smart” is used here to refer to switchable, multifunctional, adaptable, or tunable ligands and, in general, to all those ligands that are able to modify their steric or electronic properties to fulfill the requirements of a defined catalytic reaction. The purpose of this review is to comprehensively describe all types of smart NHC ligands by focusing attention on the catalytically relevant ligand-based reactivity.

Smart N-Heterocyclic Carbene Ligands in Catalysis

Electrochemical reduction of an exemplary ATRP catalyst, C 11 Br 2 /Me 6 TREN, is shown to be an efficient process to mediate and execute an ATRP. The onset of polymerization occurs only through passage of a cathodic current achieved under a reductive potential to form Cu 1 Br 2 /Me 6 TREN, within the reaction medium. Unprecedented control over the polymerization kinetics can be attained through electrochemical methods by modulating the magnitude of the applied potential allowing polymerization rate enhancement or retardation. Additional polymerization control is gained through electrochemical “dials” allowing polymerization rate enhancements achieved by larger applied potentials and the ability to successfully switch a polymerization “on” and “off between dormant and active states by application of multistep intermittent potentials.

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/332/6025/81.full.pdf

Electrochemically mediated atom transfer radical polymerization

N-Heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) have become without doubt one of the most exciting and popular species in chemical science due to the ease of their preparation and modularity in stereoelectronic properties. Numerous types of NHCs have been prepared, and various experimental methodologies have been proposed for the study of their electronic properties in order to rationalize reactivities observed. The objective of this article is to provide a comprehensive overview of the most common and popular ones among them. In particular, these include the nickel(0)-based TEP, its rhodium(I) and iridium(I) variants, LEP and related electrochemical methods, the palladium(II)-based HEP, phosphinidene- and selenourea-based methods, as well as the use of direct 1J(C–H) coupling constants of the precarbene carbon in azolium salts. Each individual method and the underlying principle of detection it utilizes will be critically discussed in terms of strength and weakness. In addition, comprehensive amounts of data from various...

Electronic Properties of N-Heterocyclic Carbenes and Their Experimental Determination

Imidazolium salts (NHC(ewg)HCl) with electronically variable substituents in the 4,5-position (H,H or Cl,Cl or H,NO(2) or CN,CN) and sterically variable substituents in the 1,3-position (Me,Me or Et,Et or iPr,iPr or Me,iPr) were synthesized and converted into the respective [AgI(NHC)(ewg)] complexes. The reactions of [(NHC)RuCl(2)(CHPh)(py)(2)] with the [AgI(NHC(ewg))] complexes provide the respective [(NHC)(NHC(ewg))RuCl(2)(CHPh)] complexes in excellent yields. The catalytic activity of such complexes in ring-closing metathesis (RCM) reactions leading to tetrasubstituted olefins was studied. To obtain quantitative substrate conversion, catalyst loadings of 0.2-0.5 mol % at 80 degrees C in toluene are sufficient. The complex with the best catalytic activity in such RCM reactions and the fastest initiation rate has an NHC(ewg) group with 1,3-Me,iPr and 4,5-Cl,Cl substituents and can be synthesized in 95 % isolated yield from the ruthenium precursor. To learn which one of the two NHC ligands acts as the leaving group in olefin metathesis reactions two complexes, [(FL-NHC)(NHC(ewg))RuCl(2)(CHPh)] and [(FL-NHC(ewg))(NHC)RuCl(2)(CHPh)], with a dansyl fluorophore (FL)-tagged electron-rich NHC ligand (FL-NHC) and an electron-deficient NHC ligand (FL-NHC(ewg)) were prepared. The fluorescence of the dansyl fluorophore is quenched as long as it is in close vicinity to ruthenium, but increases strongly upon dissociation of the respective fluorophore-tagged ligand. In this manner, it was shown for ring-opening metathesis ploymerization (ROMP) reactions at room temperature that the NHC(ewg) ligand normally acts as the leaving group, whereas the other NHC ligand remains ligated to ruthenium.

[(NHC)(NHCewg)RuCl2(CHPh)] Complexes with Modified NHCewg Ligands for Efficient Ring-Closing Metathesis Leading to Tetrasubstituted Olefins

Switched Stereocontrol in Grubbs−Hoveyda Complex Catalyzed ROMP Utilizing Proton-Switched NHC Ligands†

Synthesis and RCM Activity of [(NHC)(NHCewg)RuCl2(3-phenylindenylid-1-ene)] Complexes

Reactions of the Grubbs 3rd generation complexes [RuCl2(NHC)(Ind)(Py)] (N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC)=1,3-bis(2,4,6-trimethylphenylimidazolin)-2-ylidene (SIMes), 1,3-bis(2,6-diisopropylphenylimidazolin)-2-ylidene (SIPr), or 1,3-bis(2,6-diisopropylphenylimidazol)-2-ylidene (IPr); Ind=3-phenylindenylid-1-ene, Py=pyridine) with 2-ethenyl-N-alkylaniline (alkyl=Me, Et) result in the formation of the new N-Grubbs–Hoveyda-type complexes 5 (NHC=SIMes, alkyl=Me), 6 (SIMes, Et), 7 (IPr, Me), 8 (SIPr, Me), and 9 (SIPr, Et) with N-chelating benzylidene ligands in yields of 50–75 %. Compared to their respective, conventional, O-Grubbs–Hoveyda complexes, the new complexes are characterized by fast catalyst activation, which translates into fast and efficient ring-closing metathesis (RCM) reactivity. Catalyst loadings of 15–150 ppm (0.0015–0.015 mol %) are sufficient for the conversion of a wide range of diolefinic substrates into the respective RCM products after 15 min at 50 °C in toluene; compounds 8 and 9 are the most catalytically active complexes. The use of complex 8 in RCM reactions enables the formation of N-protected 2,5-dihydropyrroles with turnover numbers (TONs) of up to 58 000 and turnover frequencies (TOFs) of up to 232 000 h−1; the use of the N-protected 1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridines proceeds with TONs of up to 37 000 and TOFs of up to 147 000 h−1; and the use of the N-protected 2,3,6,7-tetrahydroazepines proceeds with TONs of up to 19 000 and TOFs of up to 76 000 h−1, with yields for these reactions ranging from 83–92 %.

Fast Olefin Metathesis at Low Catalyst Loading

There has been much debate about the σ-donor and π-acceptor properties of N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs). While a lot of synthetic modifications have been performed with the goal of optimizing properties of the catalyst to tune reactivity in various transformations (e.g. metathesis), direct methods to characterize σ-donor and π-acceptor properties are still few. We believe that dynamic NMR spectroscopy can improve understanding of this aspect. Thus, we investigated the intramolecular dynamics of metathesis precatalysts bearing two NHCs. We chose four systems with one identical NHC ligand (N,N'-Bis(2,4,6-trimethylphenyl)-imidazolinylidene (SIMes) in all four cases) and NHC(ewg) ligands bearing four different electron-withdrawing groups (ewg). Both rotational barriers of the respective Ru-NHC-bonds change significantly when the electron density of one of the NHCs (NHC(ewg)) is modified. Although it is certainly not possible to fully dissect σ-donor and π-acceptor portions of the bonding situations in the respective Ru-NHC-bond via dynamic NMR spectroscopy, our studies nevertheless show that the analysis of the rotation around the Ru-SIMes-bond can be used as a spectroscopic parameter complementary to cyclic voltammetry. Surprisingly, we observed that the rotation around the Ru-NHC(ewg)-bond shows the same trend as the initiation rate of a ring-closing metathesis of the four investigated bis-NHC-complexes.

Lars H. Peeck

Papers

[(NHC)(NHCewg)RuCl2(CHPh)] Complexes with Modified NHCewg Ligands for Efficient Ring-Closing Metathesis Leading to Tetrasubstituted Olefins

Switched Stereocontrol in Grubbs−Hoveyda Complex Catalyzed ROMP Utilizing Proton-Switched NHC Ligands†

Synthesis and RCM Activity of [(NHC)(NHCewg)RuCl2(3-phenylindenylid-1-ene)] Complexes

Fast Olefin Metathesis at Low Catalyst Loading

The influence of electronic modifications on rotational barriers of bis‐NHC‐complexes as observed by dynamic NMR spectroscopy