CHASING AN ELUSIVE INTERMEDIATE IN CARBENE CATALYSIS

摘要

Tomislav Rovis and co-workers successfully captured analogues of the elusive "Breslow intermediate" by reacting a thiamine mimic with an iminium ion in place of the native aldehyde substrate. The researchers built a triazolylidene carbene catalyst to mimic the reactive portion of thiamine and reacted it with a nitrogen-containing iminium ion, which has electronic reactivity similar to that of an aldehyde.