N-Heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) have become without doubt one of the most exciting and popular species in chemical science due to the ease of their preparation and modularity in stereoelectronic properties. Numerous types of NHCs have been prepared, and various experimental methodologies have been proposed for the study of their electronic properties in order to rationalize reactivities observed. The objective of this article is to provide a comprehensive overview of the most common and popular ones among them. In particular, these include the nickel(0)-based TEP, its rhodium(I) and iridium(I) variants, LEP and related electrochemical methods, the palladium(II)-based HEP, phosphinidene- and selenourea-based methods, as well as the use of direct J(C-H) coupling constants of the precarbene carbon in azolium salts. Each individual method and the underlying principle of detection it utilizes will be critically discussed in terms of strength and weakness. In addition, comprehensive amounts of data from various NHCs are compiled for the purpose of comparison. These are also meant to help the scientist in better understanding their own research data and possibly providing directions for their future research, which rely on the unique electronic properties of NHCs.

The electronic parameters of 25 Werner-type and organometallic ligands have been experimentally determined and ranked on a unprecedented unified 13C NMR scale using safe and easily obtainable complexes of the type trans-[PdBr2( i Pr2-bimy)L] n− ( i Pr2-bimy = 1,3-diisopropylbenzimidazolin-2-ylidene; L = ligand in question) as spectroscopic probes. The methodology is based on the sensitivity of the constant i Pr2-bimy carbene signal to the donor strengths of the varying co-ligands, which even allows detection of backbone and substituent effects more accurately than previous carbonyl-based systems. For the evaluation of N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs), a one-pot approach to novel hetero-bis(carbene) complexes bearing two different NHCs is introduced. Furthermore, the first complex of a strongly donating indazolin-3-ylidene ligand is presented. The molecular structures of 10 complex probes have been characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analyses.

The sterically bulky carbene precursor 1,3-diisopropylbenzimidazolium bromide ( i Pr 2 -bimyH + Br -) (A) has been prepared by an improved method in 84% yield. Reaction of A with Pd(OAc) 2 and NaBr gave the dimeric Pd(II) benzimidazolin-2-ylidene complex [PdBr 2 ( i Pr 2 -bimy)] 2 (1), which can be easily cleaved by CH 3 CN, another equivalent of salt A, and triphenylphosphine to afford the novel benzannulated monocarbene complexes trans-[PdBr 2 (CH 3 CN)( i Pr 2 -bimy)] (2), ( i Pr 2 -bimyH)[PdBr 3 ( i Pr 2 -bimy)] (3), trans-[PdBr 2 ( i Pr 2 -bimy)(Ph 3 P)] (trans-4), and cis-[PdBr 2 ( i Pr 2 -bimy)(Ph 3 P)] (cis-4), respectively. All compounds have been fully characterized by multinuclei NMR spectroscopies and mass spectrometries (FAB, ESI). X-ray diffraction studies on single crystals of 1-3 and cis-4 revealed a square planar geometry and a fixed orientation of the N-isopropyl substituents with the C-H group pointing to the metal center to maximize C-H‚‚‚Pd interactions. The large downfield shift of the C-H protons in the 1 H NMR spectrum compared to the precursor A indicates that these C-H‚‚‚Pd interactions are retained in solution and better described as weak hydrogen bonds, rather than as agostic interactions. Furthermore, the molecular structures of especially complexes 2 and 3 clearly show a bending of the bromo ligands toward the carbene carbon atom in order to maximize intramolecular C carbene ‚‚‚Br interactions. The nature of these interactions can be attributed to a form of back-bonding to the formally vacant p-orbital of the C carbene atom with the electron density originating from the bromo ligands' lone pairs. A detailed study on the trans-cis isomerization of the mixed NHC-phosphine complexes 4 revealed that a cis arrangement in such complexes is thermodynamically favored. Furthermore, a preliminary catalytic study shows that complex 1 is highly active in the Suzuki-Miyaura coupling of aryl bromides and chlorides in pure water as environmentally benign solvent.

The bioorthogonality of tetrazole photoclick chemistry has been reassessed. Upon photolysis of a tetrazole, the highly reactive nitrile imine formed undergoes rapid nucleophilic reaction with a variety of nucleophiles present in a biological system, along with the expected cycloaddition with alkenes. The alternative use of the tetrazole photoclick reaction was thus explored: tetrazoles were incorporated into Bodipy and Acedan dyes, providing novel photo-crosslinkers with one- and two-photon fluorescence Turn-ON properties that may be developed into protein-detecting biosensors. Further introduction of these photo-activatable, fluorogenic moieties into staurosporine resulted in the corresponding probes capable of photoinduced, no-wash imaging of endogenous kinase activities in live mammalian cells.

The properties and reactivities of transition metal complexes are rooted in the stereoelectronic properties of their ligands. While the bulk of a ligand can be easily evaluated and compared by the drawing of its Lewis structure, prediction on the electronic contributions is often less straightforward. Thus, several electronic parameters have been developed for the experimental evaluation of ligands throughout the years. This article accounts for the most recent one developed by the Huynh group, which employs C NMR spectroscopy to determine ligand donor strengths using N-heterocyclic carbene complexes. This parameter not only proves to be safer, more convenient and accurate in comparison to existing methodologies, but it also provides, in certain cases, more intuitive and reliable results. Furthermore, it is currently the only one that allows the direct comparison of various Werner-type and organometallic ligands on a unified scale.