Rhodium and iridium complexes of N-heterocyclic carbenes (3a-c and 4a-c) were obtained by transmetalation from the corresponding Ag(I) complexes. The structure of 3b was verified by X-ray diffraction. The compounds display restricted rotation about the metal-carbene bond, the rate of which can be controlled by altering the steric bulk of the auxiliary ligands. Infrared spectroscopy provides an estimate of the electron-donor power of the carbene ligands from ν(CO) of the carbonyl derivatives.

Imidazolium salts are found to bind abnormally via C5 to iridium(I) and iridium(III) to give air-stable monodentate N-heterocyclic carbene complexes. Abnormal ligand binding was verified by X-ray diffraction in both Ir(I) and Ir(III) complexes. In the case of Ir(I), it is necessary to block the C2 and C4 positions to form a stable sterically protected C5-bound complex. Infrared spectroscopy on carbonyl derivatives indicates that abnormally bound N-heterocyclic carbenes are much stronger electron donors than their ubiquitous C2-bound counterparts. The Tolman electronic parameter for 1-isopropyl-2,4-diphenyl-3-methylimidazolin-5-ylidene is 2039 cm-1, compared to ca. 2050 cm-1 for typical NHCs.

Chelating bis(imidazolium) salts having (CH 2 ) n chains of different lengths (n ) 1-4) linking the diazole rings show very large reactivity differences on metalation with [(cod)RhCl] 2 . Long linkers favor a square-planar Rh(I) product, while short linkers favor octahedral Rh(III). We ascribe the origin of the effect to the restricted rotation of the highly sterically anisotropic diazole rings and the different preferred orientations of these rings as n changes. Defining the x and y axes as the Rh-carbene bond directions, we find that with short linkers the diazole rings tend to be oriented close to the xy plane. This tends to favor Rh(III) because these complexes, [Rh(bis-carbene)I 2 (OAc)], have the lowest steric hindrance in the xy plane. With long linkers, the diazole rings tend to be aligned face to face along the (z axis. This tends to favor Rh(I) because these complexes, [(cod)Rh(bis-carbene)]PF 6 , have the lowest steric hindrance along the (z axis. Crystallographic studies are reported. Electrospray MS data provide evidence for strong metal-carbene binding.

The electrophilic activation of alkenes by transition-metal catalysts is a fundamental step in a rapidly growing number of catalytic processes. Although palladium is the best known metal for this purpose, the special properties of its third-row cousin platinum (strong metal-ligand bonds and slow substitution kinetics) have enabled the development of transformations that are initiated by addition to the C=C bonds by protic carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and phosphorus nucleophiles, as well as alkene or arene nucleophiles. Additionally, reactivity profiles, which are often unique to platinum, provide wholly new reaction products. This Review concerns platinum-catalyzed electrophilic alkene activation reactions, with a special emphasis on the mechanistic properties of known systems, on the differences between platinum and palladium catalysts, and on the prospects for the development of new systems.