Imidazolium heterocycles

Aupoix et al. [9] gave an efficient, one-pot procedure for the synthesis of ionic liquids based on nitrogen-containing imidazolium heterocycles (iv) under green chemistry conditions. 

Mixed imidazolium triazolium salt 24 was readily metalated at the imidazolium heterocycle with either [Pd(OAc)2] or [Rh(OMe)(COD)]2 (COD = 1,5-cyclooctadiene), due to the higher acidity of the imidazolium C2-bound proton compared to the triazolium proton. Extended reaction times for palladation or the use of the acetate analogue of the rhodium precursor, [Rh(OAc)(COD)]2, induced cyclometalation and produced ehelate complexes... 

The various fonns of betaines are very important for their charge control functions in diverse applications and include alkylbetaines, amidoalkylbetaines and heterocyclic betaines such as imidazolium betaines. Some surfactants can only be represented as resonance fonns having fonnal charge separation, although the actual atoms bearing the fonnal charge are not ftmctionally ionizable. Such species are mesoionic and an example of a trizaolium thiolate is illustrated in table C2.3.3. 

As well as phosphorus ligands, heterocyclic carbenes ligands 10 have proven to be interesting donor ligands for stabilization of transition metal complexes (especially palladium) in ionic liquids. The imidazolium cation is usually presumed to be a simple inert component of the solvent system. However, the proton on the carbon atom at position 2 in the imidazolium is acidic and this carbon atom can be depro-tonated by, for example, basic ligands of the metal complex, to form carbenes (Scheme 5.3-2). 

The ease of formation of the carbene depends on the nucleophilicity of the anion associated with the imidazolium. For example, when Pd(OAc)2 is heated in the presence of [BMIM][Br], the formation of a mixture of Pd imidazolylidene complexes occurs. Palladium complexes have been shown to be active and stable catalysts for Heck and other C-C coupling reactions [34]. The highest activity and stability of palladium is observed in the ionic liquid [BMIM][Brj. Carbene complexes can be formed not only by deprotonation of the imidazolium cation but also by direct oxidative addition to metal(O) (Scheme 5.3-3). These heterocyclic carbene ligands can be functionalized with polar groups in order to increase their affinity for ionic liquids. While their donor properties can be compared to those of donor phosphines, they have the advantage over phosphines of being stable toward oxidation. 

Asymmetric versions of this transformation were also developed by using chiral imidazolium pro-ligands as NHC precursors, or silver transmetallation methodology with chiral NHC ligands (Fig. 2.23) [106]. Imidazolium salts with chiral A-substituents (132) or imidazolidinium salts with chirality at the backbone of the heterocycle (133) gave quantitative conversions at -78°C with good ee (58% and 70% respectively). 

The first examples utilising A-heterocyclic carbenes as ligands in the Buchwald-Hartwig amination involved the in situ formation of the catalyst from the corresponding imidazolium salt and a Pd(0) source. Nolan reported IPr-HCl/PdjCdbalj as a catalytic system for the amination of aryl chlorides in excellent yields, using different types of amines, anilines, and also imines or indoles [142,143] (Scheme 6.46). Hartwig showed later that in some cases the reactions could be performed at room temperature and without anhydrous conditions even for aryl chlorides [ 144]. This was later shown for the less challenging bromides and iodides [145,146]. 

In the presence of an imidazolium salt and a base, oxidative cyclization of a Ni(0) species upon the diene and an aldehyde takes place first and forms an oxanickellacycle 25, which equilibrates with a seven-membered oxanickella-cycle 26, naturally possessing a cis double bond. cr-Bond metathesis through 26 with hydrosilane affords (Z)-allylsilane (Z)-23. The role of NHC ligand (AT-heterocyclic carbene, generated by H+ elimination from imidazolium C2H by a base) is not clear at present a Ni(0)-NHC complex is believed to effectively produce 26. 

Imidazolium, thiazolium and pyridinium ylides 198 also react with the acylmethylenecyclopropenes 208-210 to give the analogous heterocyclic cage compounds 212 (Table 20). 

Since the successful exploration of silver(i) oxide usage as a multifunctional precursor for the synthesis of silver(i) A-heterocyclic carbene complexes, there has been an increasing number of reports related to silver(i) A-heterocyclic carbene chemistry. Silver(i) oxide can act as a weak base to deprotonate imidazolium salts, generating the free A-heterocyclic carbene ligands in situ, which then forms the silver(i) carbene complexes readily. This reaction can take place in the presence of air and moisture, and as a result, no special treatment in regard to the solvents has to be undertaken. More importantly, its basicity is rather specific toward the deprotonation at the G2 position of the imidazole moiety. Exploration of using silver(i) carbonate as a milder precursor in place of silver(i) oxide has also been pursued, but longer reaction times are usually required. 

An extension of the research on silver complexes with Lewis base-functionalized mono(A-heterocyclic carbene) ligands has been made toward the better-studied and stronger coordinating phosphine systems. The reaction of a diphenylphosphine-functionalized imidazolium salt with silver oxide in dichloromethane affords a trinuclear silver carbene complex 50, as confirmed by electrospray-ionization mass spectrometry.96,97 Metathesis reaction of 50 in methanol using silver nitrate gives 51 in 33% yield. The crystal structures of 51 were found to be different when different solvents were used during crystallization (Scheme 12).97 One NO3- anion was found to be chelated to... 

In view of the versatility of A-heterocyclic carbenes as ligands and their structural diversity in silver(i) coordination chemistry, an extension of the work to ligands with two or more carbene moieties was reported. A dinuclear silver(i) complex 52 (Figure 21) with an o-phenylenedimethylene-bridged bis(carbene) ligand has been synthesized in 66% yield from silver(i) oxide and the bis(imidazolium) salt.88 The reaction to synthesize 52 has to be carried out in... 

Utilizing more reactive discrete palladium-N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) complexes (for example, Pd(carb)2) or in situ generated palladium/imidazolium salt complexes (1 mol% ligand A), Caddick and coworkers were able to extend the rapid amination protocols described above to electron-rich aryl chlorides (Scheme 6.61) [128],... 

A mononuclear nickel hydride complex with three N-heterocyclic carbene ligands has been reported the compound was formed by oxidative addition of an imidazolium salt to the Ni(0) bis(carbene) complex [19]. The hydride signal of this nickel(II) complex appears at -15 ppm. 

No examples of such reactions have been disclosed. Displacement of halogens on the parent heterocycle through metal-catalyzed processes have surprisingly not been reported to our knowledge on the neutral heterocycle. Recently, Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling reactions of imidazolium bromide 113 with various boronic acids or esters were reported <2005T6207> to proceed in good yield, without deprotonation at the C-3 position (Scheme 35). 

Ott, L. S. Cline, M. L. Deetlefs, M. et al. Nanoclusters in ionic liquids evidence for A-heterocyclic carbene formation from imidazolium-based ionic liquids detected by H-2 NMR, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2005, 127(16), 5758-5759 Hamill, N. A., Hardacre, C. McMath, S. E. J. In situ XAES investigation of palladium species present during the Heck reaction in room temperature ionic liquids. Green Chem., 2002, 4(2), 139-142. 

Pyridine-functionalized N-heterocyclic carbene Rh and Ir complexes have also been described as active precatalysts for C=0 bond TH. For example, Peris and coworkers observed the formation of metal hydrides by C—H oxidative addition of a pyridine-N-substituted imidazolium salt such as N-"Bu-N -(2-pyridylmethyl-imidazolium) hexafluorophosphate in the reaction leading to M-pyNHC complexes, that is [lr(cod)H(pyNHC)Cl] (58) [54]. Transmetallation from silver carbene... 

In many cases the synthesis of NHC complexes starts from iV,A/ -disubstituted azolium salts. Imidazolium salts as precursors for imidazolin-2-ylidenes are generally accessible by two ways complementing each other (i) nucleophilic substitution at the imidazole heterocycle or (ii) a multicomponent reaction building up the heterocycle with the appropriate substituents in a one-pot reaction. 

As mentioned earlier, triazolium salts can be converted into 5-methoxy-4,5-dihydro-lH-triazoles by reacting them with sodium methanolate in methanol. The heterocycles eliminate methanol upon heating in vacuo [Eq. (21)] and the formed triazolin-5-ylidenes can then be isolated. " The same method works with imidazolium and benzimidazolium salts." ... 

The most common methods suitable for the synthesis of different azolium compounds will be discussed here. Two routes are particularly useful for the preparation of the imidazolium salts (1) substitution reactions at the nitrogen atoms of imidazole [25] and (2) multicomponent reactions for the generation of an Af,Af -substituted heterocycle which are particularly useful for the synthesis of imidazolium salts bearing aromatic, very bulky, or particularly reactive N,N -sub-stituents (Fig. 3a,b) [26]. Both methods offer the opportunity to produce unsym-metrically substituted imidazolium salts of type 1 either by stepwise alkylation of imidazole or by the synthesis of an W-arylated imidazole derivative followed by 77 -alkylation [27]. Nevertheless, the method of choice for the preparation of the imidazolium salts 1 is the 77,77 -substitution of imidazole. Several other methods for the preparation of imidazolium salts with previously unattainable substitution patterns have also been described [28, 29]. 

Metal complexes with M-heterocyclic carbene ligands were known long before the first stable NHCs were isolated. Wanzlick [5] and Ofele [6] demonstrated as early as 1968 that NHC complexes can be obtained by in situ deprotonation of azolium salts in the presence of a suitable metal complex without prior isolation of the free NHC ligand (Fig. 1). In these cases a ligand of the metal complex precursor (acetate or hydride) acted as a base for the deprotonation of the imidazolium cation. This method has been successfully transferred to other metal precursors containing basic ligands like [Pd(OAc)2] [97] and [(cod)lr(p-OR)2lr(cod)] [98, 99]. Alternatively, an external base such as NaOAc, KOf-Bu or MHMDS (M = Li, Na, K) can be added for the deprotonation of the azolium salt [100]. In general, the in situ deprotonation of azolium salts appears as the most attractive method for the preparation of NHC complexes as it does not require the isolation of the reactive free carbene or its enetetramine dimer. 

Recently, the oxidative addition of C2-S bond to Pd has been described. Methyl levamisolium triflate reacts with [Pd(dba)2] to give the cationic palladium complex 35 bearing a chiral bidentate imidazolidin-2-ylidene ligand [120]. The oxidative addition of the levamisolium cation to triruthenium or triosmium carbonyl compounds proceeds also readily to yield the carbene complexes [121], The oxidative addition of imidazolium salts is not limited to or d transition metals but has also been observed in main group chemistry. The reaction of a 1,3-dimesitylimidazolium salt with an anionic gallium(I) heterocycle proceeds under formation of the gaUium(III) hydrido complex 36 (Fig. 12) [122]. 

Let us consider just one more nitrogen heterocycle here, and that is imidazole, a component of the amino acid histidine (see Box 11.6). The imidazolium cation has pATa 7.0, making imidazole less basic than a simple amine, but more basic than pyridine. Imidazole has two nitrogen atoms in its aromatic ring system. One of these nitrogens contributes its lone... 

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