Since the discovery of the first stable N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) in the beginning of the 1990s, these divalent carbon species have become a common and available class of compounds, which have found numerous applications in academic and industrial research. Their important role as two-electron donor ligands, especially in transition metal chemistry and catalysis, is difficult to overestimate. In the past decade, there has been tremendous research attention given to the chemistry of low-coordinate main group element compounds. Significant progress has been achieved in stabilization and isolation of such species as Lewis acid/base adducts with highly tunable NHC ligands. This has allowed investigation of numerous novel types of compounds with unique electronic structures and opened new opportunities in the rational design of novel organic catalysts and materials. This Review gives a general overview of this research, basic synthetic approaches, key features of NHC-main group element adducts, and might be useful for the broad research community.

Since the latter quarter of the twentieth century, main group chemistry has undergone significant advances. Power's timely review in 2010 highlighted the inherent differences between the lighter and heavier main group elements, and that the heavier analogues resemble transition metals as shown by their reactivity towards small molecules. In this concept article, we present an overview of the last 10 years since Power's seminal review, and the progress made for catalytic application. This examines the use of low oxidation state and/or low coordinate group 13 and 14 complexes towards small molecule activation (oxidative addition step in a redox based cycle) and how ligand design plays a crucial role in influencing subsequent reactivity. The challenge in these redox based catalytic cycles still centres on the main group complexes’ ability to undergo reductive elimination, however considerable progress in this field has been reported via reversible oxidative addition reactions. Within the last 5 years the first examples of well‐defined low valent main group catalysts have begun to emerge, representing a bright future ahead for main group chemistry.

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By employing the chelate dicarbene 1, the new chlorogermyliumylidene complex 2 could be synthesized and isolated in 95% yield. Dechlorination of 2 with sodium naphthalenide furnishes the unique cyclic germadicarbene 3 which could be isolated in 45% yield. Compound 3 is the first isolable Ge(0) complex with a single germanium atom stabilized by a dicarbene. Its molecular structure is in accordance with DFT calculations which underline the peculiar electronic structure of 3 with two lone pairs of electrons at the Ge atom.

Homodinuclear multiple-bonded neutral Al compounds, aluminum analogues of alkenes, have been a notoriously difficult synthetic target over the past several decades. Herein, we report the isolation of a stable neutral compound featuring an Al═Al double bond stabilized by N-heterocyclic carbenes. X-ray crystallographic and spectroscopic analyses demonstrate that the dialuminum entity possesses trans-planar geometry and an Al-Al bond length of 2.3943(16) Å, which is the shortest distance reported for a molecular dialuminum species. This new species reacts with ethylene and phenyl acetylene to give the [2+2] cycloaddition products. The structure and bonding were also investigated by detailed density functional theory calculations. These results clearly demonstrate the presence of an Al═Al double bond in this molecule.

The simplest parent phosphinidene, :PH (1), has been observed only in the gas phase or low temperature matrices and has escaped rigorous characterization because of its high reactivity. Its liberation and transfer to an unsaturated organic molecule in solution has now been accomplished by taking advantage of the facile homolytic bond cleavage of the fragile Si═P bond of the first zwitterionic phosphasilene LSi=PH (8) (L = CH[(C═CH2)CMe(NAr)2]; Ar = 2,6-(i)Pr2C6H3). The latter bears two highly localized lone pairs on the phosphorus atom due to the LSi═PH ↔ LSi(+)-PH(-) resonance structures. Strikingly, the dissociation of 8 in hydrocarbon solutions occurs even at room temperature, affording the N-heterocyclic silylene LSi: (9) and 1, which leads to oligomeric [PH]n clusters in the absence of a trapping agent. However, in the presence of an N-heterocyclic carbene as an unsaturated organic substrate, the fragile phosphasilene 8 acts as a :PH transfer reagent, resulting in the formation of silylene 9 and phosphaalkene 11 bearing a terminal PH moiety.

The imidazolin-2-imino group is an N-heterocyclic imino functionality that derives from the class of compounds known as guanidines. The exocyclic nitrogen atom preferably bonds to electrophiles and its electron-donating character is markedly enhanced by efficient delocalization of cationic charge density into the five-membered imidazoline ring. Thus, this imino group is an excellent choice for thermodynamic stabilization of electron-deficient species. Due to the variety of available imidazoline-based precursors to this ligand, its steric demand can be tailored to meet the requirements for kinetic stabilization of otherwise highly reactive species. Consequently, it does not come as a surprise that the imidazolin-2-iminato ligand has found widespread applications in transition-metal chemistry to furnish pincer complexes or "pogo stick" type compounds. In comparison, the field of main-group metal compounds of this ligand is still in its infancy; however, it has received growing attention in recent years. A considerable number of electron-poor main-group element species have been described today which are stabilized by N-heterocyclic iminato ligands. These include low-valent metal cations and species that are marked by formerly unknown bonding modes. In this article we provide an overview on the present chemistry of main-group element compounds of the imidazolin-2-iminato ligand, as well as selected examples for the related imidazolidin- and benzimidazolin-2-imino system.

The strikingly different behavior of the ylide-like, N-heterocyclic silylene LSi: (5: L = CH[(C horizontal lineCH(2))CMe(NAr)(2)]; Ar = 2,6-(i)PrC(6)H(3)) versus its LSi-->Ni(CO)(3) complex 13 to activate E-H bonds (E = S, N) of small molecules is reported. Remarkably, conversion of 5 with hydrogen sulfide leads exclusively to the first isolable silathioformamide, L'Si( horizontal lineS)H (16: L' = CH[C(Me)NAr](2); Ar = 2,6-(i)PrC(6)H(3)) with a donor-supported Si horizontal lineS double bond and four-coordinate silicon. The latter result demonstrates the unusual ambivalent reactivity of 5 by combining two modes of reactivity involving S-H bond activation and subsequent 1,4- and 1,1-addition, respectively. In addition, 5 can serve as a ligand with well-balanced sigma-donor and pi-acceptor capabilities toward transition metals. This has been demonstrated by the isolable [Ni(0)(arene)] complexes 12a-e (arene = Me(n)C(6)H(6-n), n = 0-3), which are ideal precursors for the formation of the corresponding Ni(CO)(3) complex 13. The latter activates a S-H bond in hydrogen sulfide, too, but the presence of the Ni(CO)(3) moiety governs the formation of the complex 17, bearing an unprecedented beta-diketiminate silicon(II) thiol ligand: L'Si(SH): (L' = CH[C(Me)NAr](2); Ar = 2,6-(i)PrC(6)H(3)). Likewise, the Si(II)-->Ni(CO)(3) coordination in 13 steers exclusively 1,4-addition of ammonia, isopropylamine, and phenylhydrazine onto the silylene ligand 5, leading to the corresponding beta-diketiminate silicon(II) amide or hydrazide complexes L'Si(NHR)-->Ni(CO)(3) (23a-c: R = H, (i)Pr, N(H)Ph). IR measurements reveal that the carbonyl stretching frequencies of the Ni(CO)(3) moiety in 23a-c are shifted to even lower wavenumbers in comparison to those of NHCs or phosphines. In other words, the beta-diketiminate silicon(II) amide ligands in 23a-c represent the strongest donors in the series of N-heterocyclic silylenes reported as yet.