Stepwise and one-pot syntheses of Ir(III) complexes with imidazolium-based carbene ligands.

We report the preparation, crystal structure, electrochemistry, and emission properties of Ir(Cinsertion markC:)3, where Cinsertion markC: is an N-heterocyclic carbene ligand. Two synthetic approaches are introduced for generating Ir(III) complexes bearing imidazolium-based carbene ligands whose precursors are [pypiH2][Cl] (1a) (pyridyl[1,2-a]{2-phenylimidazol}-3-ylidene chloride) and [pympiH2][Cl] (1b) (pyridyl[1,2-a-{2-(p-methoxy)phenylimidazol}-3-ylidene chloride). The first method is a stepwise reaction: treatment of [Ir(mu-Cl)(COD)]2, where COD is 1,5-cyclooctadiene, with 4 equiv.