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Special Issue Editor

Dr. Tomasz K. Olszewski

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Guest Editor

Department of Physical and Quantum Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, Wybrzeze Wyspianskiego 29, 50-370 Wroclaw, Poland
Interests: catalysis; olefin metathesis; NHC complexes; chemistry of hetero-organic compounds; carbohydrate chemistry; asymmetric synthesis; green chemistry
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Since the breakthrough isolation of “free” N-Heterocyclic carbene (NHC) in the 1990’s by the Arduengo group, NHCs have been established as an almost indispensable class of ligands for homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis, with multiple catalytic applications reported thus far. Especially, the steric modularity and electronic effects associated with the metal complexes has made the NHCs excellent candidates for designing new metal catalysts for catalytic transformations. In that respect, the synthesis of catalysts based on, e.g., ruthenium, palladium, or more affordable metals such as cooper and silver, are still eagerly sought.

This Special Issue of Catalysts aims to provide an overview of the latest progress in the preparation, characterization, and application of N-heterocyclic carbenes and NHC-metal complexes in modern catalytic processes. Experimental contributions, including full papers, communications, as well as reviews, describing the synthesis and applications of N-heterocyclic carbenes and NHC-metal complexes are welcome.

As a Guest Editor, it is my great pleasure to invite all researchers working in the flourishing, exciting, and broad field of N-heterocyclic carbene chemistry to contribute to this Special Issue of Catalysts.

Dr. Tomasz K. Olszewski
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Catalysts is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

N-Heterocyclic Carbene
NHC
NHC-metal based complexes
NHC ligands
catalysis
heterogenous catalysis
homogenous catalysis
olefin metathesis
immobilized NHC based catalysts
catalytic cross-coupling reactions

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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13 pages, 4656 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Tuning the Latency by Anionic Ligand Exchange in Ruthenium Benzylidene Phosphite Complexes

by Nebal Alassad, Ravindra S. Phatake, Mark Baranov, Ofer Reany and N. Gabriel Lemcoff

Catalysts 2023, 13(11), 1411; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/catal13111411 - 02 Nov 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1911

Abstract

Recently discovered cis-dichloro benzylidene phosphite complexes are latent catalysts at room temperature and exhibit exceptional thermal and photochemical activation behavior in olefin metathesis reactions. Most importantly, the study of these catalysts has allowed their introduction in efficient 3-D printing applications of ring-opening metathesis derived polymers and the control of chromatically orthogonal chemical processes. Moreover, their combination with plasmonic Au-nanoparticles has given rise to novel smart materials that are responsive to light. Given the importance of the ligand shell in the initiation and reactivity behavior of this family of complexes, we set out to investigate the effect of anionic ligand exchange. Thus, we report herein two new ruthenium benzylidene benzylphosphite complexes where the chloride anionic ligands have been replaced by bromide and iodide anions (cis-Ru-Phos-Br₂ & cis-Ru-Phos-I₂). The thermal and photochemical activations of these dormant catalysts in a variety of ring-closing and ring-opening metathesis polymerization (RCM and ROMP) reactions were thoroughly studied and compared with the previously known chloride precatalyst. Photochemical RCM studies provided similar results, especially in non-hindered reactions, with the UV-A wavelength being the best in all cases. On the other hand, the thermal activation profile exposed that the anionic ligand significantly affects reactivity. Notably, cis-Ru-Phos-I₂ disclosed particularly impressive initiation efficiency compared to the other members of the family. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue N-heterocyclic Carbenes (NHC) and NHC-Metal Complexes: Preparation, Characterization and Applications in Modern Catalysis)

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Review

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45 pages, 16087 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperReview

NHC-Catalyzed Reaction of Aldehydes for C(sp²)–O Bond Formation

by Yousuke Yamaoka and Hideto Miyabe

Catalysts 2024, 14(4), 219; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/catal14040219 - 22 Mar 2024

Viewed by 753

Abstract

In the past few decades, N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) have opened the new field of organocatalysis in synthetic organic chemistry. This review highlights the dramatic progress in the field of NHC-catalyzed C–O bond formation based on the activation of aldehyde C(sp²)–H bonds. The oxidative and redox transformations for the synthesis of various molecules with structural diversity and complexity are summarized. Furthermore, new methods and strategies for NHC catalysis are emerging continuously; thus, cooperative catalysis with Brønsted acid, hydrogen-bonding catalyst, transition-metal catalyst, and photocatalyst are also described. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue N-heterocyclic Carbenes (NHC) and NHC-Metal Complexes: Preparation, Characterization and Applications in Modern Catalysis)

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