First imidazole-fused carbaporphyrinoid and its conversion to a N-heterocyclic carbene precursor

Abstract

A series of novel imidazole-fused carbaporphyrinoids were obtained by a surprisingly simple approach by exploiting the reaction of tosylmethylisocyanide (TOSMIC) with readily obtainable 2-aza-21-carbaporphyrins. A facile methylation of silver(III) complexes of these fused systems leads to cationic N-heterocyclic carbene precursors.