Gripping ligands: A series of fluoroalkoxy-functionalized imidazol-2-ylidene ligands were synthesized by the alkylation of a range of commercially available azoles with hexafluoroisobutylene oxide. The deprotonation of these species with a strong base cleanly generated the free carbenes, which acted as tridentate chelating ligands (see scheme). Copyright
Arduengo III, Anthony J.,Dolphin, Joshua S.,Gurau, Gabriela,Marshall, William J.,Nelson, Joseph C.,Petrov, Viacheslav A.,Runyon, Jason W.