N-Heterocyclic Carbenes in Catalytic Organic Synthesis

These volumes provide a user’s guide to NHC chemistry and catalysis, thus facilitating the introduction of NHCs to novices and also helping to expand the repertoire of synthetic tools available to the more-advanced researcher, enabling the design of new catalysts and reactions.

The discovery of a stable N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) in 1991 was a seminal finding; nobody could have anticipated the impact it would have on organic synthesis, organometallic chemistry, and catalysis. The unique properties of this family of ligands made possible significant advances in catalyst design with associated improved performance. One simply has to examine the unexpected stability and reactivity brought about by NHCs in olefin metathesis catalyst architectures to begin to appreciate the impact of such ligands.
A glance at chemical suppliers’ catalogues to see the rapidly growing number of commercially available complexes, ligands, and kits shows how far the area of NHC chemistry has advanced. NHCs have become standard fare in catalysis, and the availability of such a plethora of ligand precursors, complexes, and ligands has made the development of NHC chemistry rapid, and something that will continue to grow.

These SOS volumes provide a user’s guide to NHC chemistry and catalysis, thus facilitating the introduction of NHCs to novices and also helping to expand the repertoire of synthetic tools available to the more-advanced researcher, enabling the design of new catalysts and reactions.

Volume 1 provides a detailed introduction to NHCs, with discussion of their architectures and steric and electronic properties. The synthesis of NHC precursors, NHCs themselves, and metal–NHC complexes is described. The use of NHCs in cross-coupling chemistry (carbon—carbon and carbon—heteroatom bond formation), C—H bond functionalization, and addition reactions to carbon–carbon multiple bonds is reviewed.

Volume 2 covers the use of NHCs in the various types of metathesis reaction, polymerization, cyclization reactions, oxidation reactions, and carbonylation/carboxylation reactions. The use of NHCs in asymmetric transition-metal catalysis is highlighted, as are recyclable systems (biphasic, covalently immobilized, and ionically tagged systems), NHCs in flow chemistry, and recent advances in the use of NHCs in organocatalysis.

Volume Editor's Preface

N-Heterocyclic Carbenes in Catalytic Organic Synthesis Volume 1

(TOC/Abstracts)

N-Heterocyclic Carbenes in Catalytic Organic Synthesis Volume 2

(TOC/Abstracts)

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