3808
W. Huang et al. / Journal of Organometallic Chemistry 692 (2007) 3804–3809
were recorded on a Bruker 500 spectrometer using the res-
idue of deuterated solvents as the internal standard. EI-MS
and elemental analyses were performed at the Center for
Analysis and Structure Determination of ECNU.
4.5. Synthesis of N,N0-dibutylbenzimidazolylidene silver
bromide (2)
A similar procedure to the synthesis of N,N0-dibutyl-
benzimidazolylidene silver chloride was adopted with
N,N0-dibutylbenzimidazolium bromide (0.311 g, 1.0 mmol)
to provide 2 as colorless crystals (0.318 g, 76%). m.p.: 175–
177ꢁC. Anal. Calc. for C30H44Ag2Br2N4: C, 43.09; H, 5.30;
4.2. Preparation of silver(I) oxide
To a rigorously stirred stock NaOH(aq.) solution
(1.0 M, 110 mL, 110 mmol) was added dropwise a freshly
prepared aqueous solution of AgNO3 (17 g, 100 mmol in
100 mL H2O) at room temperature. A fine brown precipi-
tate formed immediately upon addition. The precipitate
was filtered, washed with deionized water (3 · 100 mL)
and dried in suction at room temperature for 10 h. A fine
brown powder (10.6 g, 92%) was obtained and used in
the following experiments.
1
N, 6.70. Found: C, 43.57; H, 5.46; N, 6.73%. H NMR
(CDCl3,25 ꢁC), d, ppm: 7.49–7.52 (4H, m, Ar–H), 7.28–
7.47 (4H, m, Ar–H), 4.41 (8H, t, J = 7.3 Hz, N–CH2),
1.81–1.83 (8H, m, CH2), 1.31–1.43(8H, m, CH2), 0.98–
1.01(12H, t, J = 7.4 Hz, CH3). EI-MS (70 equiv., based
on Ag107): m/z (relative intensity): 416 (14%) 1/2[M]+,
337 (70%) [1/2MꢀBr]+, 309 (16%), 229 (50%) [NHCꢀ1]+,
188 (100%).
4.3. Synthesis of N,N0-dibutylbenzimidazolium iodide
4.6. Synthesis of N,N0-dibutylbenzimidazolylidene silver
cyanide (3)
To an acetonitrile (20 mL) solution of N-butylbenzimi-
dazole (1.74 g, 10 mmol) was added 4 equiv. n-Iodobutane
(7.4 g, 40 mmol) at room temperature under N2. The result-
ing mixture was refluxed for 2 h before cooling to room tem-
perature. Then toluene (20 mL) was added to the reaction
mixture to precipitate a pale yellow powder, which was sep-
arated by filtration and washed with ether (3 · 10 mL) to
provide N,N0-dibutylbenzimidazolium iodide 3.42 g,
(96%). m.p.: 107–108ꢁ C. Anal. Calc. for C15H23N2I Æ
0.5H2O: C, 49.01; H, 6.59; N, 7.62. Found: C, 48.86; H,
A similar procedure to the synthesis of N,N0-dibutyl-
benzimidazolylidene silver chloride but using CH3CN as
solvent was adopted with N,N0-dibutylbenzimidazolium
iodide (0.359 g, 1.0 mmol) to provide 3 as pale yellow crys-
tals (0.14 g, 37%). m.p.: 198–200 ꢁC. Anal. Calc. for
C32H44Ag2N6 Æ H2O: C, 51.46; H, 6.16; N, 11.26. Found :
1
C, 51.99; H, 6.07; N, 11.24% H NMR (CDCl3, 25 ꢁC),
d, ppm: 7.52–7.57 (4H, m, Ar–H), 7.45–7.49 (4H, m,
Ar–H), 4.50 (8H, t, J = 7.4 Hz, N–CH2), 1.95–2.00 (8H,
m, CH2), 1.45–1.49 (8H, m, CH2), 0.98–1.02 (12H, t,
J = 7.0 Hz, CH3). EI-MS (70 equiv., based on Ag107):
m/z (relative intensity): 363 (8%) 1/2[M]+, 337 (70%)
[1/2MꢀCN]+, 258 (20%), 230 (72%) [NHC]+, 189 (100%).
1
6.48; N, 7.52%. H NMR (CDCl3, 25 ꢁC), d, ppm: 11.2
(1H, s), 7.75–7.80 (2H, m, Ar), 7.65–7.70 (m, Ar, 2H), 4.67
(4H, t, J = 7.0 Hz, NCH2), 2.05–2.10 (4H, m, CH2), 1.45–
1.55 (4H, m, CH2), 0.95–1.05 (6H, t, J = 7.0 Hz, CH3).
4.4. Synthesis of N,N0-dibutylbenzimidazolylidene silver
chloride (1)
4.7. Synthesis of N,N0-dibutylbenzimidazolylidene silver
nitrate (4)
To a CH2Cl2 (20 mL) solution of N,N0-dibutylbenzimi-
dazolium iodide (0.358 g, 1.0 mmol) was added 2 equiv.
Ag2O (0.464 g, 2 mmol) at room temperature. A plenty of
off-white precipitate formed and the resulting mixture
was stirred in dark for 48 h. Most of the off-white precipi-
tate disappeared and the insoluble brown solid (excess
Ag2O) was filtered off with the aid of celite. The filtrate
was concentrated to about 5 mL and some hexane was
carefully added to reach a cloudy point. The resulting
cloudy solution was allowed to stand overnight to precipi-
tate the NHC silver complex 1 as fine colorless crystals
0.184 g (49%). m.p.: 179–181 ꢁC. Anal. Calc. for
C30H44Ag2Cl2N4: C, 48.21; H, 5.93; N, 7.50. Found: C,
48.67; H, 5.66; N, 7.83. 1H NMR (CDCl3, 25 ꢁC), d,
ppm: 7.50–7.54 (4H, m, Ar), 7.28–7.46 (4H, m, Ar), 4.40
(8H, t, J = 7.4 Hz, NCH2), 1.81–1.84 (8H, m, CH2),
1.30–1.41(8H, m, CH2), 0.98–1.01(12H, t, J = 7.4 Hz,
CH3). EI-MS (70 equiv., based on Ag107): m/z (relative
A similar procedure to the synthesis of N,N0-dibutyl-
benzimidazolylidene silver chloride using THF as solvent
was adopted with N,N0-dibutylbenzimidazolium iodide
(0.359 g, 1.0 mmol), 2 equiv. Ag2O (0.464 g, 2 mmol) and
AgNO3 (0.085 g, 0.5 mmol) to provide 4 as pale yellow
crystals (0.20 g, 63%). m.p.: 120–123 ꢁC (dec.). Anal. Calc.
for C30H44N5O3Ag Æ 1.5H2O: C, 54.74; H, 7.15; N, 10.64.
Found: C, 54.27 H, 7.05; N, 10.29. 1H NMR (CDCl3,
25 ꢁC), d, ppm: 7.55–7.62 (4H, m, Ar), 7.42–7.78 (4H, m,
Ar), 4.50 (8H, t, 7.5 Hz, NCH2), 1.98 (8H, m, CH2), 1.45
(8H, m, CH2), 1.02 (12H, m, CH3). EI-MS (70 equiv.,
based on Ag107): m/z (relative intensity): 232 (25%)
[NHC+2]+, 189 (99%), 132 (100%).
4.8. X-ray crystal structure determination
The single crystals of complexes 1–4 suitable for X-ray
diffraction study were grown from CH2Cl2 (1 and 2),
CH3CN (3 and 4). The X-ray diffraction intensity data of
1–4 were collected with a Bruker Smart diffractometer at
intensity):
514
(1%)
[MꢀNHC]+,
337
(38%)
[MꢀAgCl2ꢀNHC]+, 265 (12%), 230 (100%) [NHC]+.