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The Mechanism of N‐Heterocyclic Carbene Organocatalysis through a Magnifying Glass
Author(s) -
Hollóczki Oldamur
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
chemistry – a european journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.687
H-Index - 242
eISSN - 1521-3765
pISSN - 0947-6539
DOI - 10.1002/chem.201903021
Subject(s) - carbene , organocatalysis , scope (computer science) , chemistry , catalysis , mechanism (biology) , reaction mechanism , combinatorial chemistry , organic chemistry , biochemical engineering , enantioselective synthesis , computer science , philosophy , epistemology , engineering , programming language
The term “N‐Heterocyclic carbene organocatalysis” is often invoked in organic synthesis for reactions that are catalyzed by different azolium salts in the presence of bases. Although the mechanism of these reactions is considered today evident, a closer look into the details that have been collected throughout the last century reveals that there are many open questions and even contradictions in the field. Emerging new theoretical and experimental results offer solutions to these problems, because they show that through considering alternative reaction mechanisms a more consistent picture on the catalytic process can be obtained. These novel perspectives will be able to extend the scope of the reactions that we call today N‐heterocyclic carbene organocatalysis.