Donor Strength Determination of Anionic Ligands

Inorg Chem. 2023 Aug 28;62(34):13902-13909. doi: 10.1021/acs.inorgchem.3c01811. Epub 2023 Aug 12.

Abstract

14 new gold(I) NHC complexes of the type [AuX(iPr2-bimy)] (iPr2-bimy = 1,3-diisopropylbenzimidazolin-2-ylidene) have been prepared and fully characterized. These complexes and their reported analogues were used to systematically compare and rank the donating abilities of overall 34 anionic X-type donors by 13C NMR spectroscopy. Specifically, the carbene chemical shift of the iPr2-bimy ligand was found to be responsive to the ligand X spanning an overall range Δδ > 37 ppm between the strongest and weakest donor in this study.