Silver(I)-carbene complexes/ionic liquids: Novel N-heterocyclic carbene delivery agents for organocatalytic transformations

(Chemical Equation Presented) N-Heterocyclic carbene (NHC) complexes with silver were investigated as sources of unsaturated NHC carbene catalysts via thermal decomposition. The NHC complex (1-ethyl-3-methylimidazol-2-ylidene) silver(I) chloride is an ionic liquid, and was found to catalyze the ring-opening polymerization of lactide at elevated temperatures to give narrowly dispersed polylactide of predictable molecular weight. Silver-carbene complexes can also be used for the catalysis of small molecule transesterification reactions. Thermolysis of the silver complexes in the presence of CS2 yielded the zwitter-ionic CS2 adducts of the carbene, implicating the intermediacy of the free carbene in these reactions. © 2005 American Chemical Society.