Novel imidazolium and imidazolinium salts containing the 9-nickelafluorenyl anion--synthesis, structures and reactivity.

Investigation of the properties of carbene complexes is one of the most important fields of modern coordination chemistry. In this paper, we propose the convenient synthesis of NHC-nickel compounds. The 9-nickelafluorenyllithium complex reacts with imidazolium or imidazolinium salts to afford 9-nickelafluorenyl-NHC salts via ionic metathesis with very good yields (66-92%).