Pd(II) Complexes of N-Allyl Substituted N-Heterocyclic Carbenes

Abstract

Abstract The unsymmetrically substituted imidazolium salt 1-ethyl-3-allyl-imidazolium bromide 1 was synthesized by treatment of imidazole with one equivalent each of n-butyl lithium and ethyl bromide followed by treatment with one equivalent of allyl bromide. The symmetrically substituted derivatives 1,3-diallyl-imidazolium bromide 2 and 1,3-bis(3-methyl-2-butenyl)-imidazolium bromide 3 were obtained from imidazole and two equivalents of allyl bromide or 4-bromo-2-methyl-2-butenyl bromide, respectively, in the presence of sodium hydrogencarbonate as a base. The imidazolium bromides 1- 3 react with Pd(OAc) 2 to afford the palladium(II) dicarbene complexes trans-[PdBr 2 (L)2] (L = 1- ethyl-3-allyl-imidazolin-2-ylidene, 4; L = 1,3-diallyl-imidazolin-2-ylidene, 5; L = 1,3-di(3-methyl-2- butenyl)imidazolin-2-ylidene, 6) by in situ deprotonation of the imidazolium salts. The X-ray structure analyses of 4- 6 show all three complexes to be mononuclear with palladium(II) coordinated in a square-planar fashion by two carbene and two bromo ligands.