Dibromo(1,1'-dimethyl-3,3'-methylenediimidazoline-2,2'-diylidene)palladium(II)

Acta Cryst. (2003). E59, m970–m971

The perspective view of the title compound.

The catalytic properties of N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) complexes for various reactions are currently being investigated by many groups worldwide. This paper presents the structure of dibromo(1,1'-dimethyl-3,3'-methylenediimidazoline-2,2'-diylidene)palladium(II), a complex that is so active in the Heck reaction that it even activates chloroarenes. In the course of the research program on the methane activation it was found that these NHC complexes show a surprisingly high stability towards strong acids. For the catalytic activation of methane in trifluoroacetic acid the title complex has been shown to be the most active NHC complex; a methane conversion of up to 4.3% could be accomplished.