“…In synthesis, Ag–NHC complexes have been used as latent catalysts to initiate the polymerization of lactides and transesterification reactions . In fact, there are no more than a handful of examples in which the metal center of Ag–NHC complexes has been implicated as the active site, and these include the carbene insertion of ethyl diazoacetate into C−H and ketones, aerobic oxidation of alcohols, O‐glycosidation of carbohydrates, the three‐component reaction of aldehyde, amines, and alkynes, and the hydroboraton of alkynes . In all these cases, either [Ag(NHC)X] or [Ag(NHC) 2 ]X (X=halide) can be employed as catalyst precursors.…”