Chelating carbene ligands and their metal complexes

• Main Author: Niven, Stuart
• Published: Cardiff University 2007
• Subjects: 541.39
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.584069

This thesis describes the synthesis of a number of functionalised imidazolium salts as precursors to N- heterocyclic carbenes and their subsequent coordination to Ag and Pd. Further a number of the Pd complexes were tested in the Heck reaction and their activities compared to complexes with similar structural features currently within the literature. A range of imidazolium salts have been synthesised which include quinoline and octahydroacridine moieties and have been characterised by a number of methods including X-ray crystallography. A bis imidazolium salt has also been prepared as a DIOP analogue. The imidazolium salts were successfully reacted with Ag20 to form the NHCAg(I) complexes. The quinoline and octahydroacridine based NHCs were transmetallated to Pd as chelating ligands, the quinoline based systems appearing as planar, strained complexes in the X-ray structure. The activities of the quinoline and octahydroacridine based NHCPd(II) complexes in the Heck coupling of 4-bromoacetophenone and 4-chlorobenzaldehyde with n-butyl acrylate were assessed and found to be comparable to similar systems with low to satisfactory conversions.