Rhodium(III)–N-Heterocyclic Carbene-Driven Cascade C–H Activation Catalysis

Abstract

Catalytic aromatic C–H bond activation and functionalization to useful molecules is highly important in chemical synthesis. This study introduces a novel use of the highly popular N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHC), for the first-time, in rhodium(III)-catalyzed cascade double aromatic C–H activation–annulation, within the backbone of readily available imidazolium substrates to synthesize a variety of nicely decorated polycyclic heteroaromatic molecules containing benzo[ij]imidazo[2,1,5-de]quinolizinium architectures which might be useful for developing new luminescent materials.