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

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.