The facile alkylation and iodination of imidazol(in)ium salts in the presence of cesium carbonate

Chem Commun (Camb). 2023 Dec 7;59(98):14528-14531. doi: 10.1039/d3cc04971j.

Abstract

The alkylation or iodination of imidazol(in)ium salts takes place readily in the presence of Cs2CO3. The procedure is very easy to implement and provides facile and straightforward access to a wealth of C2-substituted azolium salts. Furthermore, a C2α alkylation is also feasible, which extends the chemistry of NHCs and weak bases to their NHO analogues.