Pushing the limits of electron donation for cis-chelating ligands via an alliance of phosphonium ylide and anionic abnormal NHC†
Abstract
The grafting of a –(CH2)2PR3+ moiety on an NHC ligand backbone in the Mn(I) complex [Cp(CO)2Mn(IMes)] followed by double deprotonation opens a route to bidentate ligands with extreme electron-donating character. Such remarkable electronic properties can even allow intramolecular sp2 C–H functionalization in typically inert square-planar Rh(I) dicarbonyl complexes.