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N‐Heterocyclic Carbenes: A New Concept in Organometallic Catalysis
Author(s) -
Herrmann Wolfgang A.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
angewandte chemie international edition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.831
H-Index - 550
eISSN - 1521-3773
pISSN - 1433-7851
DOI - 10.1002/1521-3773(20020415)41:8<1290::aid-anie1290>3.0.co;2-y
Subject(s) - organometallic chemistry , chemistry , catalysis , homogeneous catalysis , transition metal , coordination complex , homogeneous , ligand (biochemistry) , group 2 organometallic chemistry , organic chemistry , combinatorial chemistry , metal , molecule , biochemistry , physics , receptor , thermodynamics
N‐Heterocyclic carbenes have become universal ligands in organometallic and inorganic coordination chemistry. They not only bind to any transition metal, be it in low or high oxidation states, but also to main group elements such as beryllium, sulfur, and iodine. Because of their specific coordination chemistry, N‐heterocyclic carbenes both stabilize and activate metal centers in quite different key catalytic steps of organic syntheses, for example, C−H activation, C−C, C−H, C−O, and C−N bond formation. There is now ample evidence that in the new generation of organometallic catalysts the established ligand class of organophosphanes will be supplemented and, in part, replaced by N‐heterocyclic carbenes. Over the past few years, this chemistry has been the field of vivid scientific competition, and yielded previously unexpected successes in key areas of homogeneous catalysis. From the work in numerous academic laboratories and in industry, a revolutionary turning point in oraganometallic catalysis is emerging.