Aryl-NHC-group 13 trimethyl complexes: structural, stability and bonding insights

Abstract
Treatment of aromatic N-substituted N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) with trimethyl-gallium and -indium yielded the new Lewis acid-base adducts, IMes·GaMe3 (1), SIMes·GaMe3 (2), IPr·GaMe3 (3), SIPr·GaMe3 (4), IMes·InMe3 (5), SIMes·InMe3 (6), IPr·InMe3 (7), and SIPr·InMe3 (8), with all complexes being identified by X-ray diffraction, IR, and multinuclear NMR analyses. Complex stability was found to be largely dependent on the nature of the constituent NHC ligands. Percent buried volume (%VBur) and topographic steric map analyses were employed to quantify and elucidate the observed trends. Additionally, a detailed bond snapping energy (BSE) decomposition analysis focusing on both steric and orbital interactions of the M-NHC bond (M = Al, Ga and In) has been performed.

Citation
Wu MM, Gill AM, Yunpeng L, Yongxin L, Ganguly R, et al. (2017) Aryl-NHC-group 13 trimethyl complexes: structural, stability and bonding insights. Dalton Trans 46: 854–864. Available: http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/c6dt04448d.

Acknowledgements
F. G. would like to thank NTU start-up grant (M4080552) and MOE Tier 1 grant (M4011441) for financial support. L. F. would like to thank KAUST for financial support.

Publisher
Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)

Journal
Dalton Transactions

DOI
10.1039/c6dt04448d

Additional Links
http://pubs.rsc.org/en/Content/ArticleLanding/2017/DT/C6DT04448D#!divAbstract

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