N-Heterocyclic Carbene (NHC) Ligands

NHC (N-heterocyclic carbenes) have evolved to become universal ligands for the rapid synthesis of novel organometallic complexes.¹ In particular, NHC ligands have practical use when bound to metals that display high catalytic activity in related organophosphane metal coordination chemistry.^2-4 Heterocyclic carbenes are a useful class of ligands due to several attractive features, including the following: 1) facile tuning of the electronics and/or sterics of a metal catalyst system; 2) ease of synthetic preparation from conveniently available starting materials; and 3) strong binding to the metal thus creating a highly productive catalyst. We offer a diverse array of NHC ligands that have been successfully applied in reactions ranging from amination⁵ to C–C bond formation⁶ to hydrosilylation.⁷

Product Highlights

• Mediate an incredible breadth of transformations
• Provide robust stability to the metal center
• More active in many reactions than the related phosphine catalysts
• Readily modified to incorporate chirality, immobilization, and water solubility